Antigonish County discusses j-class roads, potential sidewalk, RCMP service

ANTIGONISH COUNTY: During the asset management committee report of the municipality’s regular monthly council meeting on Oct. 11, which was submitted to council by Bill MacFarlane, he highlighted a recommendation that municipal council approve putting forward D MacIsaac Road, Tamara Dive, and Macken Road for projects in 2023-24 under the j-class road cost-sharing program with the province.
A second endorsement from the committee was a recommendation for municipal council to purchase a sidewalk plow from Saunders Equipment Ltd., at a price of $208,170, plus-HST.
Both motions presented by MacFarlane were passed unanimously.


A number of recommendations came out of the Oct. 4 Committee of the Whole meeting.
Glenn Horne, the municipality’s CAO, advised the first recommendation was that council sign a joint letter with municipal neighbours for Susan Corkum-Greek, the Minister of Economic Development, highlighting cellular connectivity concerns within the province.
The committee also recommended municipal council provide a letter of support to Town Point Oysters, a family-owned business interested in establishing an oyster farm near the mouth of Antigonish Harbour. While the question was called, two councillors were in favour of the motion, while there were four nays and the motion was defeated.
Horne also highlighted the committee recommended that municipal council contact the Nova Scotia Department of Public Works requesting consideration for a sidewalk at the intersection of Brierly Brook Back Road and Highway 245.
Finally, the committee also made a recommendation for municipal council to approve providing sponsorship in the amount of $6,000 to the Antigonish Jazz Festival.


During the police advisory committee meeting on Oct. 6, Staff Sgt. Kim Hillier and Sgt. Warren McBeath provided a summary of activities from the past two months, as well as a review of calls of service.
Discussions also occurred over upcoming initiatives and plans for StFX’s Homecoming.
McBeath requested the committee, with support from staff, begin discussions with the detachment for additional RCMP resources.
The committee discussed some of the indicators, measures, trends, and service level that would be a part of that conversation, while also requesting additional information provided on the detachment structure and illicit drug activity.
One recommendation came forward for municipal and town councillors to write a letter to the Nova Scotia Department of Justice with their concerns of the intentions to move the provincial traffic unit and northeast Nova district office from Antigonish to Stellarton.


From the Committee of the Whole meeting on Oct. 11, a recommendation was made that municipal council support the retention of Strait Area Engineering Ltd., as project manager for the ICIP Net-Zero Community Buildings Project for the proposed cost of $134,100, plus-HST.
There was also a recommendation that council approve a streetlight at the intersection of Heatherton Village Road and MacLellan Farm Road.

Drake Lowthers

Drake Lowthers has been a community journalist for The Reporter since July, 2018. His coverage of the suspicious death of Cassidy Bernard garnered him a 2018 Atlantic Journalism Award and a 2019 Better Newspaper Competition Award; while his extensive coverage of the Lionel Desmond Fatality Inquiry received a second place finish nationally in the 2020 Canadian Community Newspaper Awards for Best Feature Series. A Nova Scotia native, who has called Antigonish home for the past decade, Lowthers has a strong passion in telling people’s stories in a creative, yet thought-provoking way. He graduated from the journalism program at Holland College in 2016, where he played varsity football with the Hurricanes. His simple pleasures in life include his two children, photography, live music and the local sports scene.

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Drake Lowthers has been a community journalist for The Reporter since July, 2018. His coverage of the suspicious death of Cassidy Bernard garnered him a 2018 Atlantic Journalism Award and a 2019 Better Newspaper Competition Award; while his extensive coverage of the Lionel Desmond Fatality Inquiry received a second place finish nationally in the 2020 Canadian Community Newspaper Awards for Best Feature Series. A Nova Scotia native, who has called Antigonish home for the past decade, Lowthers has a strong passion in telling people’s stories in a creative, yet thought-provoking way. He graduated from the journalism program at Holland College in 2016, where he played varsity football with the Hurricanes. His simple pleasures in life include his two children, photography, live music and the local sports scene.