Councillor Matt Whitman District 13 Hammonds Plains - St. Margarets Halifax Regional Municipality Dear Residents, Greetings to all residents of District 13 and a warm welcome to new residents in our community. My first year as your representative on Regional Council has been an exciting and productive one. I have been working in the community and dealing with a number of issues, challenges and opportunities. It is a privilege to serve you as your Municipal Councillor. I am always pleased to hear from you and encourage you to contact me with your concerns or suggestions. Thank you for your continued support. I look forward to continuing to work with you throughout the next year. Winter is just around the corner. There are a number of fun activities happening around HRM during the winter months. For a list of activities, please check out HRM’s website at www.halifax.ca. Use the drop down menu and go to Events (Civic). Winter 2013/2014 HOW TO CONTACT ME My Office is here to serve you Councillors’ Support Office Halifax Regional Municipality P.O. Box 1749, Halifax, NS B3J 3A5 Phone: 240-3330 Fax: 490-4122 Email: matt.whitman@halifax.ca Web: www.halifax/ca/districts/dist13 My Council Constituency Coordinator: Melody Campbell Phone: 490-2012 Email: melody.campbell@halifax.ca As the holiday season approaches, my family and I extend best wishes for all the blessings of the season and a healthy and prosperous New Year! Yours in Service, Granite Cove Park, Hubley HRM Citizen Contact Centre – 3-1-1 You can reach the HRM Citizen Contact Centre by calling 3-1-1. By contacting 3-1-1, you can a report an issue and access a wide variety of municipal services and information through the Contact Centre. The Citizen Contact Centre hours are 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., seven days a week except New Year’s Day and Christmas Day. Councillor Matt Whitman District 13 Hammonds Plains - St. Margarets Snow & Ice Service Standards Sidewalks The Halifax Regional Municipality is committed to keeping streets and sidewalks clear and safe from snow and ice. Even before a snow event occurs, HRM’s snow operations are set in motion to facilitate safe movement for both motorists and pedestrians. Snow and ice operations, however, do take time. The goal is to set an attainable standard which align the levels of service with the financial constraints of the HRM budget. Priority 1 Sidewalks First Priority sidewalks include main arterials and sidewalks within the Capital District. HRM’s goal is to clear these sidewalks within 12 hours of the end of snowfall. In order to achieve this standard, routes must be classified based on their impact on the overall transportation system. HRM has classified all of the routes and will service them (salt, sand and plow) in the following order of priority: Priority 3 Residential Street Sidewalks & Walkways HRM’s goal is to clear residential sidewalks and walkways within 36 hours of the end of snowfall. Streets Priority 1 Streets & Roads First Priority streets include main arterials, emergency routes to hospitals and fire stations, major bus routes, and snow routes in major hilly terrain during weather situations. HRM’s goal is to have a plow or salt pass every 3 hours and make Class 1 streets safe and clear of snow within 12 hours of the end of snowfall. Priority 2 Streets & Roads Second Priority streets include residential and rural routes with medium to low volume traffic and gravel roads. HRM’s goal is to start cut throughs at intersections to allow access onto the local streets after 10 cm’s of accumulation and to make Class 2 streets passable within 24 hours of the end of snowfall. As you know, a number of streets and roads in District 13 are owned and maintained by the Province of Nova Scotia. If you want to know who maintains your street, you can find the information on the HRM website at www.halifax.ca - use the drop down menu and go down to Street Maintenance Directory. PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY! Priority 2 School Route and Transit Route Sidewalks HRM’s goal is to clear school route sidewalks within 18 hours of the end of snowfall. Intersections & Bus Stops HRM’s goal is to clear bus stops (starting with high volume stops) within 48 hours of the end of snowfall. Important Notes on Service Standards • In snowfalls greater than 30 cm, or in blizzard conditions, service levels may not be achieved. HRM’s crews will continue working until all streets and sidewalks are clear and safe from snow & ice. • During significant snow events “cut throughs” (one lane plowing) may commence on residential streets to allow single lane access prior to full street width clearing. • While the objective is to maintain sidewalks to a bare condition, many factors are key to achieving success. Wet snow packed to ice, freezing rain and sudden freezes after rain can produce a heavy ice build-up on sidewalks. Sand will be applied to provide a degree of traction. • In the case of multiple snowfalls, where there has been insufficient time to complete all sidewalks, operations will return to the highest priorities and start over. • Plowing, from either street or sidewalk operations, will result in snow at the end of resident’s driveways. HRM is NOT responsible for removing this snow. On June 21, 2013 Peter Coade, the Maritime’s mostexperienced meteorologist, broke the Guinness World Record for the Longest Career as a Weather Forecaster. In October 2012, Peter marked 50 years as a weather forecaster and meteorologist. The Guinness World Record official certificate received from their London headquarters states: “The longest career as a weather forecaster is 50 years, 8 months and 21 days, and was achieved by Peter Coade (Canada) at CBC Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada from 1 October 1962 to 21 June, 2013.” Peter is a member of our St. Margaret’s – Hammonds Plains community. We wish him all the best and congratulations on his distinguished and long-standing career. Councillor Matt Whitman District 13 Hammonds Plains - St. Margarets District 13 – District Project Updates Each Councillor is allocated $94,000 each year in District Capital funds as outlined in the Municipal Government Act. Since becoming Councillor, the following are a few projects that have received donations from the District 13 Capital fund. The William Black United Church Playground opening was held on Saturday, October 26th. Congratulations to the Committee for all its work in getting the playground built. It is great to see this playground open for all area children to enjoy. The Micou’s Island Stewardship Centre has had another successful season. There have been exterior and interior restorations on the cottage. Thank you to the St. Margaret’s Bay Stewardship Association and its residents for its work to keep Micou’s Island open to the public. The island is a great asset to our community and is vital in preserving our heritage and celebrating our natural environment. COUNCILLOR WHITMAN IN THE COMMUNITY! Councillor Whitman and Mike Leroux with the new automated external defribulator for the St. Margaret’s Bay Centre. Councillor Whitman with volunteers of the St. Margaret’s Bay Food Bank during the installation of the air heat pump. Councillor Whitman presenting funding, on behalf of the residents of District 13, to the Tantallon Citizens on Patrol Society. Councillor Whitman presenting a cheque, on behalf of the residents of District 13, to the volunteers of the Head of St. Margaret’s Bay/ Boutiliers Point Recreation Association for outdoor arena upgrades and community centre repairs. Parkland Planning Project Updates Hubbards Skatepark The start-up site meeting and public participation sessions for the Hubbards Skatepark took place in September. The preliminary design has been reviewed and accepted by the Committee. Detailed design and specifications will be developed over the winter months. It is anticipated that the skatepark build will begin in the spring of 2014. White Hills Multi-Purpose Sports Court A multi-purpose sports court has been built in White Hills, Hammonds Plains. The on-site landscaping was completed in November. Granite Cove Park (Five Island) The Granite Cove Park project is nearing completion. In the past several months, there has been the installation of a floating boardwalk through the wetland, a dock, interpretive signage, a picnic shelter, benches, planting and green space development. Big Hubley Lake Park (Three Brooks) A BMX park has been developed at Big Hubley Lake Park. Councillor Matt Whitman District 13 Hammonds Plains - St. Margarets The New Bedford Hammonds Plains Community Centre is now Open! HRM Community Recreation Services is now offering programs from its new Bedford Hammonds Plains Community Centre. Located at 202 Innovation Drive, Bedford, as part of the new Charles P. Allen High School, the Bedford Hammonds Plains Community Centre is a spacious, fully-accessible, and security-monitored recreation facility. Ridematching • Are you looking for a way to reduce your commuting costs? This new centre will be able to support existing recreation programs in the area, while providing new opportunities for specialty recreation programs and leisure activities. • Are you considering trying out transit or cycling for your daily commute but are unfamiliar with bus routes or feel uncomfortable cycling on city streets? The centre features many amenities, including: - Full-size gymnasium, with capacity for 224 spectators - Dance room, featuring hardwood floors, bars, & mirrored wall - Locker room facilities - Kitchenette (available to sport teams during tournaments) - Fitness room - Dedicated youth and senior program room - Dedicated pre-school program room - Arts & Crafts room - Community meeting room - Dedicated parking spaces - Performance Art venue - Full-size FIFA and CFL artificial turf facility HRM is providing access to a service which can help. To contact the Bedford Hammonds Plains Community Centre, please call 490-4238 or 869-4208. For information on the all-weather turf facility, please call 490-4003. Tweets & “Quotes” “Instead of worrying about what people say of you, why not spend time trying to accomplish something they will admire.” - Dale Carnegie “The only person you should try and be better than, is the person you were yesterday.” - Nicky Gumbel “The feeling you get from finishing a race is far better than the feeling you get from sitting around wishing you were running. Run strong.” - John Stanton “Motivation needs to be a part of your own life for you to be effective in conveying it to other people.” - Zig Ziglar • HfxRidematch.ca is a safe and secure on-line ride-matching system that allows commuters to quickly and securely find travel partners. • The system matches people based on proximity to origin and destination points and travel route as well as similar working hours, travel mode and compatible preferences. • The system can be used to match carpool, transit, cycling and even walking partners. It’s FREE to use. It’s secure. It’s easy. It’s fast. BayRides The St. Margaret’s Bay Community Transportation Society, known as “BayRides”, is entering the second leg on the path to establishing community transit in the Bay area. After a needs and feasibility study carried out last year indicated considerable interest, BayRides received a grant from the Nova Scotia Transit Research Initiative Program (NS-TRIP) to develop a business plan in which alternative service models, costs and possible sources of funding will be more precisely determined. A consultant has been hired to help BayRides with developing the business plan. A public meeting was held on November 7th with more than 40 people in attendance. The input gained from this and other meetings will be used in the business plan. Public support from the Bay area will be essential if a community transit service is to become a reality. If a viable business plan is developed, the next phase in 2014/15 will be pre-implementation, followed by a pilot phase in 2015/16 and full service in 2016. Due to Canada Post distribution areas, some residences which are not in District 13 may receive this newsletter. I apologize for any confusion this may cause and hope you still find the information useful.