Straight from the candidates’ mouths

By AMY PUGSLEY FRASER City Hall Reporter
Mon. Apr 28 - 6:14 AM

MATTHEW CHRISTIE matthewchristieonline.com

 

                                        TIM OUTHIT bedfordleader.com

City hall reporter Amy Pugsley Fraser spoke to candidates Matthew Christie and Tim Outhit about what led them to run for municipal councillor in District 21, among other issues. This is what they said:

WAS THERE A SINGLE ISSUE OR EVENT THAT PUSHED YOU FORWARD?

Christie: There were two events that convinced me to run for council. The first was the successful Bedford Community Council Association meeting where over 250 Bedford residents expressed their desire for change. The second was the funeral for my grandmother where hundreds of Bedford residents encouraged me to put my name forward to run.

Outhit: I believe that if you want things to improve, you have to be willing to step up and take action. That’s why I joined the Ridgevale Homeowners Association shortly after moving to Bedford in 2000. Now, like many Bedford residents, I’m concerned by the slow pace of progress on a rink, soccer fields, a new library, roads, playgrounds and more efficient public transportation.

WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?

Christie: I am very passionate about Bedford and hope that I can build on the work of our previous full-time councillors to make Bedford, again, one of the top places to live in Atlantic Canada.

Outhit: We live in a terrific community, but it can be better. I am not looking for a job, rather I want to offer my experience in business, government relations, consensus-building and relationship-building to help move Bedford forward. Bedford residents want a strong voice on council — they want the kind of leadership Gary Martin gave us. I believe I can be that voice.

WHAT QUALIFIES YOU FOR THE JOB?

Christie: I have been involved in Bedford politics since the age of 10. I am currently on leave from my position as executive assistant with (Service Nova Scotia) Minister (Jamie) Muir. This has provided me with insight into the workings of municipal and provincial government. As your full-time councillor, I will demonstrate my ability to bring people together to enhance the goals of Bedford and HRM.

Outhit: I’ve learned a lot about how to get things done with government in my career (novaknowledge) and in my volunteer job as a neighbourhood association president. I can bring that experience — with my track record of action on issues like sidewalks, security patrols, better lighting, sidewalk construction, traffic lights and a community website — to help all areas in Bedford get the amenities they deserve.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT CITY HALL?

Christie: All politics is local. I enjoy working at the grassroots level directly with the residents of Bedford to implement their ideas and policies to make our community a better place to live. I feel that the greatest impact can be made at the municipal level to directly enhance our community of Bedford.

Outhit: Issues dealt with by city hall affect all of us: traffic, policing, public transportation, property tax, and facilities construction and operation. If you can’t walk down the street at night because your area doesn’t have decent street lights, that’s a quality-of-life issue. If it takes you half an hour to drive through Bedford, that’s a basic issue. If your child can’t play hockey because there isn’t enough ice time, that’s a quality-of-life issue.

WHAT ARE YOU HEARING ON THE DOORSTEP?

Christie: People are frustrated with the lack of progress in Bedford since amalgamation. The population has doubled and our tax assessment base has increased to $1.8 billion, yet we have not moved forward with issues like seniors and recreational facilities, heavy traffic flow, public transit solutions and upgrades to our roads and walking trails. Residents expect full-time representation, as they have had in the past.

Outhit: The residents of Bedford want action on infrastructure, better public transportation, more all-age facilities, a sustainable recreation facility, another access point to the Bicentennial Highway from south Bedford, the Burnside Bypass, proactive neighbourhood policing, playgrounds and an off-leash dog park. Bedfordites are intrigued by the idea of more homeowners associations handling these issues; they like my experience on this front. Gary Martin and I discussed this model many times.

HOW MANY REGIONAL COUNCIL MEETINGS HAVE YOU BEEN TO?

Christie: I have attended several council meetings in the past few months. I stay up to date with regional issues and monitor the direction of HRM by watching the meetings on EastLink. I have also attended numerous municipal and provincial meetings in Bedford and have a strong working relationship with HRM councillors and provincial ministers and MLAs.

Outhit: I’ve attended a few meetings in person over the years and watched many Tuesday evening sessions on television. I’ve attended many more meetings (and have many contacts) with members of HRM departments and bodies such as parks and recreation, traffic authority, engineering and the police.

( apugsley@herald.ca)

 

Technorati Tags: A Pugsley,Halifax Chronical Herald,Bedford Election

Will they ever learn? I doubt it!

By Les Muise, March 26/08 posted to www.myhalifaxca.wordpress.com & www.lesmuise.wordpress.com

Recently MLA Diana Whalen posed an interesting question in her Letter to the Editor of the Halifax Chronicle Herald that pointed at the shoddy handling of the ‘ Mainland Common Recreation Center by the staff and elected officials of the Halifax Regional Municipality. I’m in full agreement with Mrs Whalen’s position and the comments offered by Bette El-Hawary, P.A. Kidd, Rhonda Beers, Francis MacDonald, and Doug Boudreau each in their own Letters to the Editor, all of whom speak from their personal frustration with the whole process and lack of involvement by our elected leaders.

I have a few comments of my own but first some personal history.

Where to start?

This issue has been part of my world for as long as I can remember.

• I’ve lived between Meadowlark Crest.,Chadwick Place and Westridge Drive for 30 of the past 35 years.
• I attended Halifax West High School when it was on Dutch Village Road and was considered a New School with 1,500 students from the area now serviced by Halifax West, J.L. Ilsley & Sir John A MacDonald. All bussed in each day by a fleet of 50 buses and requiring 6 portable classrooms and split shifts in my grade 10 year.
• I remember when Lacewood Dr. stopped at Bayview, when the YMCA opened the Northcliff Pool with its inflatable roof, and when there was no Dunbrack Dr or Bayers Lake or Parkland Drive.
• I remember when the old city of Halifax took over the Northcliff Pool from the YMCA (they could not afford the upkeep of the roof) to serve a population of   20,0000 in its catchment area.
• I’ve witnessed the phenomenal growth of the community referred to as Clayton Park & Clayton Park West from a sleepy bedroom community, where new homes sold for $  28,000 to $35,000 as it grew into a dynamic, thriving, multicultural center with new homes in the $  250,000 to $ 500,000 range and a population in the service catchment area that is pushing past the  200,0000 mark. Most of that growth exploded into the area in the last 10 – 14 years.
• I have watched the change in what ‘we the people‘ want in our community. There is a much greater demand for municipal services that would not have been considered in the past.
• I have campaigned door to door with the candidate in the past two Provincial Elections and was campaign coordinator for a candidate in the past Municipal Election   & was at his side at every door, every day of that champagne and I have a pretty good idea of what this community was asking for at that time.
• I have attended Chebucto Community Council meetings on this issue when I was one of a dozen people in attendance & when the room was over filled with angry residence objecting to a proposed Recreation Center that resembled a resort with out the floating bar.
• I have attended ‘Town Hall’ meetings at the New Halifax West with a couple of hundred other concerned citizens where we were treated as unwanted interference and at one session managed and controlled as to what we were allowed to ask.
  • I have spoken out at every one of these sessions of my concern that the      City was not building a facility for the future of our community but was doing the minimal that it could get away with and ducking the responsibility.
• I have been involved with the Build It Right group from its inception as a public participant, a petition signature gatherer and I’ve attended meetings as a member with the Managers of both the Department of Planning        & Development and Recreation and Sport. where our concerns were treated with a rather condescending attitude.
• I have talked personally with those same Department managers where they have commented that ‘anything is possible if there is the political will’. And there is the biggest part of this problem, that lack of political will starts right at the top.
  • Every project with in the Recreation and Sport domain had been waiting with baited breath for a successful Commonwealth Games Bid. It was absolutely mind boggling the number of times that the Management of those departments commented that ‘everything depends on getting the Commonwealth Games and being able to tap into the ‘extra’ funding that would be available from the Federal Government because we were hosting an international event of this stature.
  • This logic came to a grinding halt the day that his highness Peter Kelley unceremoniously pulled the City’s support of that Bid. Not only was that decision an insult to the hundreds of bid participants in business community but it ended every one of those projects that had been using the strategy of waiting for the Holy Grail…. there was no plan B, so back to the drawing board we go…. effectively pushing each of those projects a year or two further down the road or in some cases off the road all together.

The Current Reality

After ten (10) years of public involvement it angers me that here we are seven     (7) months before the next Municipal Election and the City & Province are still stonewalling the public as to their plans for this facility.

• How can anyone be expected to believe that the huge amount of heavy earth moving that is currently being done on the proposed site is in preparation….without a plan!!! Talk about throwing money away! I f you believe that I’ve got some swamp land in Florida that you can buy for $1,000.00

From my perspective in this situation the ‘City’ lacks leadership and any firm vision & direction that would come as part of a strong Mayor & Council. There has been a deliberate effort to pacify the community by using the       HRM’s version of Public Consultation and much like what has been happening with the    School Review Process and lets be clear …. this attempt has failed.

By ignoring the the input of community based organizations like    Build It Right and the hundreds of voices heard at the many public meetings the ‘City‘ is setting its self up for ridicule, criticism and controversy.

The attitude of ‘Concerned Citizens’ has changed over the years. The hundreds of people from this community who have taken the time out of their busy lives to be involved in the process, to make their concerns known, ultimately   need to know that their voice was heard and taken into consideration.

Short of that, the process is flawed, the project will become a lightning rod for all the complaints that will be rightly aired.

The Missing Link

In all of the years that this situation has dragged through the painfully slow process, the missing component has been the political will of our elected representatives. The counselors for this area have resisted any objective input from the public and for the most part have avoided any involvement, despite repeated invitations. Not once have I seen, heard or read of Mayor Kelley having attended a meeting on this matter, nor has his opinion ever been expressed publicly although comments from staff as to the lack of Political Will starting at the top have made it clear what position        Mr Kelly has taken.

If Halifax wants to continue to grow and keep its youth, to keep some of the new graduates from our universities and have the young geniuses of the (RIM) technology world make this their home its time to face reality.

• Its time to invest in our youth by giving them a chance to grow to their potential with a ‘Center of Excellence’ .
• Its time to invest in a positive and healthy community by providing a community / recreation canter that promotes an active and involved lifestyle for all ages.
• Its time to invest in our communities by putting the services where they are convenient and stop using the logic that oh well you can do that over there … on the other side of the city …    45 minutes each way [by car  & 2 hrs by bus ... during peak hours]
• Its time for strong, aggressive leadership that chases all potential stakeholders and doesn’t stop till they get the best for Halifax. If Port Hawksbury can raise the funds…. you know the rest of that comment!
• Its time to make the changes in all of the processes to effective allow public participation    &   to speed up those processes thereby allowing Halifax to grow into the great city that it could be.

In Closing

Halifax is a great city & Clayton Park is a fabulous area in which to live.

To me the fix for this situation comes down to a change in attitude and a new approach. The key objective of any project undertaken by the Halifax Regional Municipal  should be;

• by using effective community consultation the project meets the needs of the community,
• all the participants can be proud of their involvement, proud of the facility      and proud of Halifax.

In reality it is a team approach with bottom up concept development combined with conciliation and facilitation, add some creative problem solving along with a consistently positive attitude by all involved. And that’s an approach will make the difference. I’ve been known to say on more than one occasion “give me the right attitude and anything is possible”.

Couple that approach & attitude with a strong leadership team that is willing to be involved in the community, to be transparent in its methods, accountable to the voters, and willing to promote Halifax as a great place to live at every opportunity and through every method and most importantly be ready & willing to fight for every ounce of funding that we are due.

No matter what Moncton says Halifax is the regional center and should start acting accordingly, on all levels. Invest in the infrastructure, the facilities and the people …. the rest will be here or come here.

Unfortunately it appears that the Mayor and Counselors have decided to go into the upcoming election with a [potentially] flawed proposed facility hoping to gain community support for their version of what is needed.

I wouldn’t want to be knocking on doors this fall with any of them…. its not going to be nice.

Developer Fares to be inducted into Hall of Fame

 

 

 

Wed. Mar 5 - 6:17 AM

Wadih Fares has been active in Nova Scotia’s business and multicultural communities. (Christian Laforce / Staff)

Wadih Fares, founder and CEO of WM Fares Group, is one of three people to be inducted into this year’s Junior Achievement Nova Scotia Business Hall of Fame.

Mr. Fares is being recognized for his commitment to building Nova Scotia’s business environment and multicultural community, and his participation in many organizations across the country.

A graduate of Dalhousie University, he created WM Fares Group to bring together all the requirements of a development project. He believes “customers crave simplicity,” so it became his goal to rid them of the challenges and stresses of dealing with multiple contractors.

His firm has completed hospitality, multi-unit residential and commercial projects throughout the Maritime provinces, Ontario and Alberta, and he has served on industry boards such as the Association of Professional Engineers in Nova Scotia and organizations such as the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, the Lebanese Language School and the Pier 21 Society. He is honorary consul of Lebanon for the Maritime provinces.

Mr. Fares will be inducted into the hall at a ceremony set for June 12 at the World Trade and Convention Centre.

For a complete profile of Mr. Fares and his accomplishments, look for a feature article about him Sunday in the business section of The Chronicle Herald.

Technorati Tags: Wadih Fares,Halifax,Jounior Achievement Nova Scotia Business Hall of Fame

Cat bylaw may be in for fix

Council to revisit kitty rules, issue may go to plebiscite
By AMY PUGSLEY FRASER City Hall Reporter
Tue. Mar 4 - 5:41 AM

 

Get ready for the claws to come out . . . once again.

Halifax regional council is set to review its recently passed — but not yet enacted — animal bylaw during its regular weekly meeting at city hall today.

The about-face on the bylaw, which was approved last October by a vote of 11-9, comes after council last week reviewed potential costs associated with sheltering all of the animals expected to be picked up when the bylaw goes into effect on April 1.

That’s because the piece of new legislation includes provisions for cat licensing — at a cost ranging from $10 to $30 — and forbids dogs and cats to run at large.

If an animal strays off its property, it can be taken to a shelter and kept for a limited time while attempts are made to contact the owner.

If no owner is found, then the animal could be euthanized.

Back in January, the city issued a request for proposals for sheltering services to deal with the expected increase of animals.

At that time, the president of the provincial SPCA told The Chronicle Herald that costs could reach astronomical levels.

That may have been what councillors heard last week at a closed-door session.

Afterward, Mayor Peter Kelly did tell reporters that councillors were debating a “contractual matter” that had to do with “dollars.”

A public hearing would have to be held to gauge the public’s support for eliminating the portions of the animal bylaw dealing with cats.

However, that might all be moot.

Coun. David Hendsbee (Preston-Lawrencetown-Chezzetcook) has asked for a motion of reconsideration on council’s vote last week to proceed with getting rid of those parts of the bylaw.

Instead, he’d like to see the issue dealt with in a plebiscite during October’s municipal election.

“I’m getting to the point that perhaps it’s time for this council to suspend further debate on pet registration and go to the people on a plebiscite,” he said.

( apugsley@herald.ca)

Technorati Tags: Halifax,Cat ByLaw,revisited

No love of public transit in Halifax

By THE CANADIAN PRESS
Tue. Mar 4 - 6:38 PM

 

More than three-quarters of Halifax’s population drives or gets a drive to work, passing up public transit. (TED PRITCHARD / Staff / File)

COMMUTING BY THE NUMBERS Here’s a breakdown of commuting information for the census metropolitan area of Halifax: (Census metropolitan areas do not conform to established municipal boundaries. Statistics Canada determines its own geographic definition of a metropolitan area with a population of at least 100,000, but it also includes surrounding urban and rural communities based on analysis of commuting patterns and other factors. Commuting data on the communities that make up the CMA will be released later this spring.) Halifax CMA Median commuting distance: 6.5 kilometres Those who commute less than 5 km: 34.1% 5 - 10 km: 21.5% 10 - 15 km: 10.4% 15 - 20 km: 7.9% 20 - 25 km: 4.0% 25 - 30 km: 1.9% More than 30 km: 4.0% Usual Mode of Transportation Car, truck, van as driver: 65.1% Car, truck, van as passenger: 10.6% Public transit: 11.9% Walked: 10.1% Bicycle: 1.0% Other: 1.3%

OTTAWA — The car is still king when it comes to commuting in the Halifax region as new census data shows that more than six times as many people use a vehicle to get to work than use public transit.

Statistics Canada released Tuesday more information from the 2006 census, including details on where Canadians work, how they most often get there and how long they travel.

The census shows there are 186,000 commuters in what’s known as the census metropolitan area of Halifax and that 75.8 per cent of them either drive to work or are passengers in someone else’s vehicle.

RELATED

• 11.8 per cent of Halifax workforce nearing retirement

  That compares to 11.9 per cent of commuters in the region who used public transit. Other ways people in the Halifax area got to work: 10.1 per cent walked and 1.0 per cent used their bike.

  The census shows commuters in the Halifax region have decreased their reliance on the car to get to work since the last census in 2001.

  Five years ago, Statistics Canada reported that 77.6 per cent of commuters used a car to get to work — either as the driver or a passenger.

  The median commuting distance in 2006 was 6.5 kilometres. Five years ago, the median distance was 6.3.

  The term median distance is defined by Statistics Canada as the point where one half of the region’s population travels more than that distance and the other half travels less. Commuting distance is measured on a straight line from home to work — not the actual route travelled, which for most commuters would be longer.

  The metropolitan area in Canada with the longest median commuting distance is Oshawa, Ont., at 11.0 kilometres, while the shortest commute is Regina where it’s less than 4.6 kilometres.

  The region with the highest reliance on the car was Abbotsford, B.C., where 93.2 per cent either drove to work or were passengers in a vehicle.

  Montreal might be able to stake a claim to being home to the country’s greenest commuters: that region had the highest proportion of people (28.8 per cent) who used public transit, their bike or their feet to get to work.

COMMENTS

• POST YOUR COMMENT

  Odoyle wrote:
  The city should be doing everything in its power to install commuter rail as an option but we tend not to think in terms of positive change down here. Calgary has a commuter rail system that pays for itself because its powered by wind and its well used.

• If people are still going to be stuck all day in the traffic on the roads they are going to choose their cars because at least they can relax more and listen to radio or cds rather than stand on overcrowded buses amongst smelly people for hours. Commuter rail bypasses roads and allows people to move faster.

  The Sentinel wrote:
  The reason nobody uses the transit system in Halifax is because it is unreliable, innefficient and rarely on time. Not to mention, at 70 plus dollars per month, the value isnt there for a transit pass either. I would gladly use a mass transit service if it even approached a usable state.

• It’s fine if you live withing a few miles of downtown but after that its a 1 or 2 hour commute on a bus that zigzags through ten neighbourhoods before it even gets near downtown. That’s only if you don’t have to transfer once or more in between. Too much of the cost of having Halifax Metro Transit goes to paying salaries that are overblown.

• Why do we need to pay ridiculous salaries for driving a bus? It’s a bus. Combine this with paying some drivers time and a half and double time (thanks to the union) and we cant afford to spend the money where it should be spent….on improving the service. Why do we need to spend a zillion dollars on having EVERY bus wheelchair accessible. I have not once seen a person in a wheelchair on a metro transit bus, yet we spend millions on buses that have removed passenger seating in favor of wheelchair areas that never get used.

  Scrappy6499 wrote:
  Metro Transit…What a joke. Too many times have I seen overloaded buses drive right past waiting commuters. The service is a joke, they have routes that need particular buses,the long ones, but you don’t see them.

• Prime example, I live out on the way to Herring Cove, at night, on the 4:37 run, a double bus would be prudent, but what happens is we get one of the new ones, and then when we get to Mumford, we can only accept a handful, because the bus is full.

• But the silly thing is, now we see these double buses on week-ends when they are not needed. It all comes down to poor planning. The service is poor, for the money we pay for it. Yet our civic leaders wish us to utilize this service. Myself, I will continue driving my car until service improves…

  DARTMOUTHMAN wrote:
  It seems strange that the HRM’s response to encourage more people to use the transit system was to buy smaller buses and pack people in like sardines.The choice is easy when faced with that.

  David fm CH wrote:
  Cities should build up instead of out. This would increase by far the number of folks who would be able to commute on foot or via mass transit.

  spindoc wrote:
  These stats don’t shock me at all. Considering that the bus has to travel the same roadways that cars do, why wouldn’t you drive to work, unless parking was an issue for you. Now, when I lived in Toronto, I almost always took the subway to work. It was much faster, a train would arrive between 2-3 minutes during rush hour, and it saved a good chunk of change. But here, with the bus, public transit just doesn’t appeal to me.

  mishel24 wrote:
  It’s time for rail. The whole province would benefit if we had rail into Halifax from all corners. People could commute from all over to work in the city and then get home quickly!! IT IS WAY PAST IT’S TIME… I HATE driving, yet I must drive to work every day because I work outside of the downtown core and the bus would take an hour for what takes 20 minutes by car. ridiculous. I hate driving, and I want to preserve the environment, but with kids to pick up… I have no choice. If I took the bus I’d be picking them up at 7 PM!!

  Halifax wrote:
  I use the transit system in Halifax a lot and usually they are right on time–most often to the minute! That amazes me. With just a few exceptions, most of the bus drivers are very friendly. I wish I could say the same about most of the passengers. If a bus is even a few minutes late, they grumble and growl. Just like a bunch of little kids.

  Tina_in_Halifax wrote:
  I gave up on metro transit, I use to use it to get back and forth to University and then to work. I got sick and tired of late buses, no organization on connection of routes, buses that wouldn’t even show when scheduled and then you catch the next scheduled one and there would be 2 right in a row…it was so frustrating I’d rather pay the $350/month for my vehicle, the $100/month for insurance, the $90/month for parking and the $1500/month for gas (ok not that bad hahaha but close). I have lived in Ottawa and the buses there run so smooth, you hardly have to wait and you get home 10 times quicker than if you drove so it is much more reliable. Sorry guys but metro transit here SUCKS!!!!

  Niki_Storme wrote:
  I’ve visited several cities in Europe where commuting by public transportation is favored - in Ireland, they have actual “bus lanes” that only buses are allowed to use; therefore, while everyone is sitting in traffic, the bus drives right through… they use double-Decker buses as well, so more people are fitting in the vehicle.

• Roads have been made smaller to accommodate pedestrians and buses, thus making driving very inconvenient! You could take a bus, train, or ferry anywhere over there for next to nothing… I think that’s the idea - for the city to make it less convenient to drive and more convenient to take public transportation. Then again, there’s always someone to complain about something making it much easier to suggest then actually “do”.

  Holly G wrote:
  I do use the transit system and wish they’d make some much needed adjustments. It’s nice to say that the bus meets the ferry, but often the ferry is leaving as the bus is pulling in. If Metro Transit has to do schedule adjustments to ensure that commuters can catch the ferry due to heavier traffic at rush hours, then do so.

• Also, when you do write to Metro Transit to voice a complaint they don’t respond. Add extra crossing to the Woodside Ferry, PLEASE. Why does it have to shut down from 10 am to 3 pm? More people WOULD utilize that ferry if it ran all day. You have that as a resource, so why not fully utilize it?

  Dartmouth’s better wrote:
  This is no surprise. We need to limit our population growth. There are enough people and cars here now.

  thevoice wrote:
  I wonder what the percentage of people who live in the rural area’s of HRM that metro transit does not service would be apart of this number?

  Manda-Pictou wrote:
  I take the bus every day to work and had a friendly employee not taken pity on me and offered a drive home I would also have to take it home, normally a 10 min drive, it is 45 on the bus. There are numerous times since I began taking the bus that I have encountered problems. I have only been since July and the number of times I’ve been disappointed by metro transit is astounding.

• Once I was standing beside the bus stop and it drove right on by, the bus was nearly empty and the driver didn’t even look at me. I have waited 20 minutes for the bus, which runs every half an hour!. 4 other different times I went out to wait for the bus, I called the Go Time number and it said the bus will depart in 4 minutes, I waited for 15 minutes and gave up, the bus had come early!! Now call me crazy but I’m pretty sure they aren’t allowed to come early.

• I had to walk to a bus terminal to catch a different bus, when I was early for the original scheduled time! I am one to do the little things we all can for the environment and normally I wouldn’t have a problem using a reliable metro transit service. I also know not all buses have problems and some drivers are very considerate and understanding, but the experiences I’ve had make me want to buy a car ASAP.

  rhharley wrote:
  It’s still better than Lethbridge Transit…

  stephaniek wrote:
  I have to admit. I use the metro transit everyday to and from work, I will say some days its not so bad. other I want to scream.

• There are times when my bus will pull into mumford and my connecting bus will not wait that extra min (even if you get them to call ahead, and that’s IF they will call ahead a lot of drivers wont) then you get stuck waiting 30-45mins wait for a bus that will be so over packed because they thought it would be a smart idea to have

• ALL standing room and no seats on a bus, sorry but when I work all damn day on my feet, and I have to pay 60.00 a month for a pass Im not wanting to stand on a bus its retarded! Not to mention when the bus’s are too full they wont let you get on and they yell to move back and when you cant pack on anymore ppl the drivers get a lil cranky.

• It’s just not all that practical. It sucks! when it’s cold and raining/snowing and your bus is 10-15 mins late then you are now late for your connecting bus’ its a pain. Sorry but I agree I have been on bus’s in Ottawa…. much better!!!!!!!!!!!!! we need to change something…. P.S the 52bayers lake between 4-6pm YOU NEED A DOUBLE BUS not one of these bus’s for wheelchair access… sorry isnt that why they have access a bus???????

  Marky Mark wrote:

• Commuter rail must become a BIG priority for the council and mayor that gets elected this fall. Commuter rail should also be a BIG priority for the provincial political parties that are jockeying for an election whenever the minority government falls.

• Halifax’s growth is stymied by lack of adequate access for people on and off the peninsula. Major institutions and employers are not moving off the peninsula (and they are only growing in size), therefore we must introduce sustainable non-road methods of moving people.
  We are fortunate that abandoned rail corridors have been preserved along the south shore and eastern shore that parallel highways 103 and 107 to communities where commuters live. We are also very fortunate that active rail corridors parallel highways 102 and 118 and 101. A commuter rail system could be activated in HRM for far less money than it would cost to acquire and build new rail corridors. ]

• If we used Light Rail Transit, similar to what Ottawa or Portland, Oregon or even Calgary/Edmonton has, we could create a loop on the peninsula by running trains down the route to the existing VIA station, then in tracks set in Water Street (remove 1 lane for cars/trucks) to the ferry terminal and continue up past the casino where an abandoned rail corridor stretches from there through the dockyard to Richmond and back to Fairview.

• The rail corridors already run in close proximity to Enfield, Elmsdale, Bedford, Fall River, Waverley, Mount St. Vincent, Dalhousie, SMU, Burnside, Bayers Lake, Timberlea, Tantallon, the Dartmouth waterfront, Eastern Passage, Lawrencetown…. The Sambro Loop/Prospect area is really one of the only commuter regions in HRM which does not have an abandoned or active rail corridor nearby that could be used for commuter rail.

• Commuter rail would be a far larger project than HRM taxpayers can afford and since it impacts provincially funded highways (removing traffic from them) and reduces air pollution, the provincial and federal governments should be brought on-side to provide a similar level of funding as was provided in the precedents to establish GO Transit, the C-train, etc.

• The fast ferry is a distraction from what really needs to get done with getting people out of their cars and providing a reliable, fast and non-road transport system for getting to and from home to work, school, etc.

  Chris_NS wrote:
  It costs me about $130/month to take my car to work with my wife - 1 hour round trip. It costs me about $142/month to take the bus to work with my wife - 2 hours round trip. No brainer.

  Lilli047 wrote:
  Halifax will never really be world class until their transit system reflects this priority. If the current price of gas can’t get people to switch, there must be a problem.

  voiceofreality wrote:
  It’s not like we didn’t already know this. Why would anyone who can afford it choose to sit next to the dregs of society, waiting for every one of them to get on and off?

• Why stand in the cold or rain waiting when you can be in the air conditioned or heated comfort of your car? Duh. Based on the results of this informatin, the city should be making bigger roads for us, more parking available and getting traffic obstacles like bicycles and buses out of the way. The majority has spoken - embrace it.

  GossipGirl wrote:
  Unfortunately Halifax is the most unfriendly city for commuters. I considered taking the bus from my home to downtown, but with 2 bus transfers and the most indirect route possible, a commute that would normally take 20 minutes by car takes well over an hour. My time is precious and there are better things I could be doing than sitting on numerous buses over an hour.

• There is ample space and opportunity for HRM to install a commuter rail or develop more user friendly park and ride shuttle buses. High speed ferries from the Bedford area are all fine and dandy for people living in that area, but for people like myself who live out in Beechville, Lakeside, Timberlea, Hubley and Tantallon, we really don’t have any options at all. If the city wants us to be more green, happy transit users, than give us a system that works, that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg and gets you from point A to point B in 1/2 an hour or less.

• wordsmith wrote:
  You cannot expect people to quit using cars if your transit system is so poorly organized. Why the government has not even thought about getting a rail system is truly beyond all logical reasons.

• In Montreal, we have a system that goes almost everywhere, and we can always rely on a train every 15 minutes from 5:30 am till a little after midnight. The only time we have a bus that runs hourly is the overnight buses.

• Here, it’s not even convenient to travel by bus. I think it’s time the government wake up from their slumber and do something about providing the citizens in Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford,etc… with a decent rail system.

• If you want people to take the public transport, you have to give them a better reason. Not unless you’re trying to keep the people in their cars because you want to sell gas.

• admiralBS wrote:
  your govt has better stop living in the past. instead of expropriating houses along your avenues to widen the roads and aggravate your homeowners . to destroy the lovely foliage in those old colonial houses areas. the city is well-spaced for a rail transit system, and the only reason why you don’t hear anything about it is because you, the people, are not making enough demands for it.

• you hew and haw about how rotten the arteries are, and how bad the buses are. all this is not going to change without a rail system. it’s not like it’s something amazing new . anyone who has travelled across your fair land knows a metro rail system works. the only ones who thinks it doesn’t are your political fathers. time to shove the idea into their faces. wake them up from their myopic mentality. failing that, i guess you will have to ask for an election.

  Hard to Believe wrote:
  Four working members in my household - One must drive for his job the remaining three of us - All within 5 KM’s of home but an hour to take a bus to work and then quite a walk from the bus stop when we can drive in less than 15 mins.

• I guess that is self-explanatory. Large numbers of individuals work in Burnside - Have a look at access by bus. That will explain why everyone does drive. I bet most Bus Drivers take a vehicle rather than a bus to Burnside.

  eastcoaster wrote:
  Niki_Storme,

• Ireland has a better transit system because of the size of the country. It’s small!! If you travel all over Ireland (I have), you’d notice the only area with larger roads are the “M” series highways.

• All the roads are narrow. You’d also notice people over there aren’t in a rush to get from point A to point B like they are in alot of cities. Also, another reason there aren’t as many cars on the road isn’t because of some grand conspiracy to force them off with narrow roads and increasing public transit.

• It comes with the fact these cities are hundreds and thousands of years old. The layout of Dublin, for example, was started over 1000 years ago. I’m pretty sure public transit wasn’t thought of back then.

• Additionally, when you are paying 3 to 4 dollars a liter for gasoline, that’s also a pretty good incentive to walk, ride a bike or take the bus. We’ve got it pretty good when it comes to gas prices.

• As for our transit system, I use it on a regular basis and I haven’t had any problems with it. I find the drivers of the bus I’m on are friendly and, while yes, it can take the scenic route I’m still getting home in enough time to have supper and go to my childs activities.

• For those that find the drivers to be rude, I beg to differ. Many times on the route to my home, the driver has waited for people, helped others onto the bus with their bags and, like most people, they smile when you say Thank You.

• That’s all you have to do folks, be polite. You get out of life what you put into life. On a final note, I do think a rail link into the city would be an excellent idea.

  Bobby wrote:
  I did use the bus at one time but quickly got tired of it. The cut backs in service and routes while drivers were oddly getting raises, hardly keeps time and many other reasons is why I gave up and opted to drive myself around this city.

• The transit system has been sub-par since the early 90’s and isn’t getting any better. People don’t want to pay into something that forces them on late buses that are likely overcrowded.

• My girlfriend is constantly calling me to pick her up because the bus is 10-15 minutes late as usual. It’s funny. I’ve used the Toronto Transit system quite a bit and for a city of that size and complexity, they can manage to run an efficient and timely system…why can’t Halifax? I blame the cats of course

  123654 wrote:
  In order to get anywhere on Metro Transit you have to be willing to jump on whatever bus happens to be passing the stop you are at and maneuver your way to where you are going. Perhaps an eager candidate for mayor could make this lack of service an election issue - he/she would get my vote for sure.

  jvangurp wrote:
  If you are lucky (like me) you can walk back and forth to work. I’ve been doing that for around 12 years now no matter what the weather and it’s a great way to commute. Sure there’s a trade-off; little house, close neighbours, city noise, etc, but it eliminates car and vehicle use for so very many things.

  Miranda wrote:
  Metro Transit is horribly inefficient. I live 14 km from work, and I can cycle there in less time than it takes to get there on the bus. So that’s what I do. I do take the bus in the winter, and it’s a nightmare.

  anjo jabril wrote:
  It’s pretty obvious that many of us here are no strangers to the light rail transit (eg. toronto go train, montreal metro, calgary c train, vancouver sky bus,etc). we all know how efficient they are. it’s no surprise that one uses the train to commute to work even if one lives outside the metropolis. it’s fast, it’s clean, it’s safe,etc. it’s cheap too. as for the same price you pay here to cram into a bus like sardines, and having to wait and even miss buses on a crummy day, montrealers and others enjoy the comforts of a train with park and ride and we can get to almost anywhere we want , MUCH FASTER THAN A CAR.

• your reader from toronto is right. after i sold my car in 2001, i never bought another. each time i made an arrangement to meet my friends who drove, i always end up in the pub 15-20 mins earlier than them, even though i lived out of town. sometimes, they even arrived an hour later than me, due to being unable to find a parking spot. WAKE YOUE POLITICIANS UP, oh dear dear halifax, dartmouth,etc… you have such a lovely city and vicinity. pity your politicians are so obstinate to keep newcomers and faithful haligonians,etc from enjoying the rest of the area. SHAME ON YOU, especially when your people voted you in to make their lives more comfortable. Not make it worse.

  thomas c wrote:
  Metro Transit (the buses and ferries) need a complete overall. Somebody needs to sit down and look and the overall service and radically change the system. Major bus routes run too infrequently, small buses lead to overcrowding (often) - turning off anyone with a choice from choosing mass transit.

• Another issue is that there are too many stops in too short a distance - examples of this: 1) #17, 18 & 82 outbound on Windsor St from North to Hood St.; 2) 1, 7, 9, 10, 80, etc… anywhere on Barrington St from Scotia Square to Spring Garden Rd; 3) 7, 17, 18 & 80 inbound on Robie from Cunard to Spring Garden / Coburg; 4) #4 & 52 outbound from Mumford Terminal via Mumford and Joe Howe to Bayers Rd. Shall I continue?

• This ridiculous set up slows commute times, frustrates riders and solidifies the preception that Metro Transit is a waste of time.

  CCRking wrote:
  Wider roads, bicycle paths? my goodness, are you only seeing within your near-sighted vision. Buy a little house near the center. Where do you find that? And you want to compete against the other cities to lure big business with an inefficient metro system? What century have you been locked in a time-warp? lol.

• Have you ever driven in a city where roads were widened, that cars zipped through each other like ants along a rainforest trail? I have! Rio De Janeiro, Sao Paulo, (Brazil), Boston Mass, USA, New York City,etc… The roads can only be widened for so long. As cars fill the traffic, it will soon become just as bad as you have today.

• Stop smoking those funny weed and still think this is the 70’s. Get a light rail system. It costs commuters all over Canada just about the same as your bus-riders here each month. You are so cheated by your leaders.

• I feel sorry for you. Ask any Haligonians or Nova Scotians who are working in Montreal, Calgary, Toronto,etc.. if they have a car. Except for a minority, you will be told, “Yes, I do, but I take the metro to work.”

• Listen to the people. Listen to the people. Listen to the people.GET RAIL !

Bedford voters may face two trips to polls this year

Sun. Feb 24 - 5:16 AM

Municipal voters in Bedford should go to the polls twice this year, a municipal staff report recommends.

The report said a Bedford byelection, necessitated by the death this month of Coun. Gary Martin, can be held May 3. Advance polls are to run April 26 and 29.

Mr. Martin, a former Halifax police officer, died Feb. 10 at age 53 after a battle with cancer.

Cost of the planned byelection is about $35,000, according to the report, which will be presented to regional council Tuesday. Councillors are to vote on the expense and the date.

The general municipal election is set for October. That means the successful Bedford candidate could have a short political career if he or she is voted out of office five months later.

Those eligible to run in the byelection must be Canadian citizens, 18 years old at the time of nomination and residents of Halifax Regional Municipality six months before nomination day.

Mr. Martin joined regional council in August 2006 when he won a byelection after former Bedford councillor Len Goucher was elected to the provincial legislature. Since the Bedford seat is vacant, other councillors are responding to concerns and comments from area residents.

The most recent municipal byelection was in December in the Woodside-Eastern Passage district, when fewer than 1,300 of 12,000 of those eligible voted.

In Bedford, there’s a move afoot to try to find a different municipal government model to serve local householders and business operators. A new group, the Bedford Community Council Association, heard several complaints from residents at a meeting earlier this month. More than 200 people attended the session.

Bedford’s population has grown to about 20,000 from 6,000 in the past 25 years, and its commercial and residential tax base has increased to about $1.6 billion from $877 million.

( mlightstone@herald.ca)

Technorati Tags: Bedford,Election

Metro firms in running

Companies in Halifax and Dartmouth vie for offshore living quarters

By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter
Wed. Feb 20 - 6:29 AM

Joseph Lovett, vice-president of North American sales with Single Buoy Moorings, speaks at a Halifax break­fast meeting Wednesday. Single Buoy, with headquarters in Monaco, will own and operate the Deep Panuke production field centre, about 175 kilometres offshore. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff)

Two metro companies have been shortlisted for a lucrative multimillion-dollar contract to build the offshore living quarters for EnCana’s $700-million Deep Panuke natural gas project.

Irving Shipbuilding Inc. of Halifax and Atlantic Fabricators Ltd. of Dartmouth, a joint venture of Cherubini Metal and Black & MacDonald, have been selected as the finalists for the offshore contract to build the five-storey structure for 100 people.

An executive of Single Buoy Moorings, the provider and operator of the Deep Panuke mobile offshore production platform unit, released the names of the two companies in Halifax.

Single Buoy executives were to continue meetings today with the two companies, which are expected to make their final submissions March 21. A decision on the successful bidder will be made in April.

GJ Cahill& Co. and Aecon Fabco, both of Dartmouth, are now out of the running.

Single Buoy wants more information about the two bids, Joseph Lovett of Houston, vice-president of sales in North America, said after speaking to oil and gas executives at a breakfast meeting in Halifax.

“(We’re) just trying to get a better handle on what they’re going to be offering,” said Mr. Lovett, a 41-year-veteran of the oil and gas business who was born in Glace Bay. “They were the two companies that . . . put in the two sharpest bids.

Single Buoy, with headquarters in Monaco, will own and operate the production field centre, about 175 kilometres offshore, and will lease it to EnCana for the life of the project. It’s estimated that enough gas will be flowing by 2010 to supply three million homes a year and last for 13 years.

Mr. Lovett said the price of building the living quarters is confidential. EnCana estimated in regulatory documents that the annual operating costs during production of Deep Panuke would be $150 million, including the leasing of the field centre.

The production facility will stand in about 44 metres of water. The natural gas is about 3,500 metres below the seabed.

EnCana’s project will produce natural gas from the field, about 175 kilometres off Nova Scotia. The gas will be transported by subsea pipeline to Goldboro, where it will be transported via the Maritimes & Northeast pipeline to markets in Eastern Canada and the northeast United States.

Single Buoy has yet to decide where to locate the onshore supply base for the project but is looking at two options: Halifax and Mulgrave.

Mr. Lovett said there isn’t a clear advantage to either site but appeared to favour the Halifax location.

“I just think one is in existence and that’s ExxonMobil, and it’s here in Halifax,” Mr. Lovett said.

“It’s well developed; it has great warehousing and dock facilities. The same can be said of Mulgrave. A lot of exploration drilling activity was hosted out of Mulgrave.

“So they’re both just two facilities that we’re looking at and one of them we’d like to work with is ExxonMobil if that works out. If that doesn’t work out we have another place to go in Mulgrave.”

Single Buoy is expected to open an office next to EnCana’s corporate offices at 1701 Hollis St. in Halifax with Ian Moss as general manager.

( jmyrden@herald.ca)

Technorati Tags: Deep Panuke,ExxonMobile,Irving Shipbuilding,Single Buoy,Encana,Offshore Housing

Condo projects proceeding despite signs of instability

 

Condo projects proceeding despite signs of instability

By ROGER TAYLOR Business Columnist

Fri. Feb 8 - 6:22 AM

Despite delays caused by a shortage of skilled tradespeople, which among other things has helped to increase construction costs, the metro condo and apartment market seems to be going full steam ahead.

The continued building boom has some people wondering if there is economic justification for the construction or if it may be part of some kind of building frenzy in the metro area.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., the agency that tracks these things, told a conference earlier this week that it expects about 900 condo units will be built within the urban part of Halifax Regional Municipality over the next two years — 200 units on the Halifax peninsula, 400 on the Halifax mainland, 200 in Dartmouth and 100 in Lower Sackville.

Wunderkind developer Joe Metlege of Halifax says he has changed his mind about trying to sell his $15-million, seven-storey, 97-unit Palace Royale project in Clayton Park as condos and has instead decided to rent the units out as “condo-quality” apartments beginning in September.

“The condo market is not too stable right now, so we’re going to finish it like a condo with granite countertops, six appliances, large spacious rooms, key card access for the units,” the 25-year-old told me in a recent phone conversation.

According to CMHC, in addition to the condos that will be built in metro, there are also a healthy number of apartments about to come on the market in the next couple of years.

It is projecting there will be an additional 1,250 apartment units available in metro by 2010.

About 225 apartment units will be built on the Halifax peninsula, 525 on the mainland, 450 in Dartmouth and 50 in the Bedford/Sackville area, according to analysts at CMHC.

As almost everyone knows, location is the key to the success of any real estate transaction and the market for apartments and condos is no exception.

Metlege is president of Jono Developments Ltd. and is also the president of the Investment Property Owners Association of Nova Scotia. In addition to the Palace Royale project, he has embarked on an even more ambitious project on the periphery of Halifax’s downtown.

He recently acquired the property that’s home to Trinity Anglican Church at the corner of Brunswick and Cogswell streets. That’s where he plans to construct a $50-million, mixed-use, 19-storey building.

Work on that project could begin as early as this fall, he says. The church called for proposals for the site last year and Metlege says the package he offered won the bid.

In exchange for the church and the land downtown, Metlege is building a new church in the Clayton Park area near his Palace Royale project.

There was a cash payment to the church as well.

There is no heritage claim on the existing downtown structure and there are no height restrictions in that part of the city either, so Jono Developments can proceed with its plans without having to go through the costly and time-consuming appeals process faced by many downtown development proposals in recent years.

He says the site is strategically located and should become even more valuable once the city proceeds with plans to tear down the often-criticized Cogswell interchange to allow for even more development.

Metlege says plans for the building have not been finalized but one idea is to set aside part of the building as a four- or five-star hotel. The top floors would be apartments. Plan B for the site would eliminate the hotel component and replace it with about 150,000 square feet of office space.

In addition to having to have vision about what type of construction project will become a successful investment, under today’s conditions, developers also have to have a lot of guts.

( rtaylor@herald.ca)

Roger Taylor’s column appears Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Technorati Tags: Condo Development,Halifax,Market Conditions

Kelly wants URB to speed it up

  By AMY PUGSLEY FRASER City Hall Reporter
Fri. Feb 15 - 5:49 AM

The Utility and Review Board should deliver its decisions quicker to bring the development appeal process to a speedier conclusion, Mayor Peter Kelly says.

“Anyone is entitled to due process, and to me, a 30-day rendering is reasonable,” he said in an interview.

The review board is the quasi-judicial tribunal that hears appeals of city hall’s decisions on downtown development.

Recent appeals involved the Midtown Tower Hotel, which was to go on the current Midtown Tavern site on Grafton Street, and the so-called Twisted Sisters, a 27-storey twin-tower development United Gulf proposed for the old Tex-Park site on Hollis Street.

In both cases, regional council approved the developments but heritage groups and other interested parties appealed the decisions within weeks.

The Twisted Sisters project will go ahead, the Midtown Tower Hotel will not.

Although the length of the hearing process is hard to control, Mr. Kelly said the 90-day decision-making process should be shortened.

“I know that it is sometimes challenging, but to be fair to the appellants and the development community, there needs to be some definition of time frames in order to clearly see from start to finish,” the mayor said.

“There is nothing that complicated in development issues or appeals in development.

“It should be a 30-day rendering and that should be made law.”

The city is already working on changes to its own processes to streamline things for developers, Mr. Kelly said. There are plans to cut wait times for applications by 30 per cent, he said.

“This would reduce the average number of months required for a plan amendment to approximately nine months, for a rezoning to approximately six months, and for a development agreement to eight months.”

As well, the city is drafting a new set of guidelines for downtown development in its HRM by Design initiative. Essentially, it will determine “what goes where” downtown, the mayor said.

“That will set the tone for the downtown so there will be less room for interpretation and more definition of what you can and can’t do,” he said. “That should reduce the number of appeals.”

A report is expected to come before council in about April, he said, with final public participation sessions occurring after that.

“We need to do our piece, which we are doing,” the mayor said.

“But they (the province) need to do their piece, which is refining the Utility and Review Board process.”

Premier Rodney MacDonald made his own promise this week to curb delays in downtown Halifax’s development process.

At last weekend’s provincial Conservative convention, he said the province hopes to “fix the issue.”

“We’re not going to sit back and wait for things to happen,” the premier told reporters.

“That means working with the city to make sure the process is clearly defined and is not going to stop development from taking place.”

This week, the premier’s spokesman said the province is already pondering changes.

“Basically we’re looking at how we can streamline the process to make sure the appeals process is more efficient and consistent,” Joe Gillis said.

“One of the problems developers and businesses face is that the appeals process can be unwieldy and uncertain, and that leaves uncertainty in their business case and bottom line.”

If they know upfront what the rules of engagement are and what the timelines are, they are better able to make decisions, Mr. Gillis said.

“Beyond the ‘Whose role is it?’ though, one of (the province’s) roles is to attract business and help business grow, and Halifax being Halifax, we know what businesses want, so i