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: NOV/2016
HAPPY
HOLIDAYS
VOL:
2016
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VOLUME03
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Community
On Martinique Beach
By Wyn Jones
On any given day in the year, Martinique Beach is magical. The combination of salted
air and a foam-laden scent makes it a very special place. I happened to be walking along
the strand one afternoon late last August, my dog Amber pounding in and out of the
shallows as a warm and glowing sun set the ripples in the receding tide to a diamond
sparkle. As it was mid week, we had the whole length of the beach to ourselves, or so I
thought. But there suddenly just ahead of us, wading slowly, the water lapping around
his knees, was a small rotund figure.
As we approached, he turned and flashed the broadest grin of sheer pleasure one
could ever hope to encounter. His gleaming white smile was offset against a tanned
face set within a white, week-old stubbly almost beard. His bright red shorts extended
to meet with the seawater, and his tee shirt of faded whiteness had a Toronto Maple
Leafs logo across its front. His baseball cap, also bearing the teams logo, was set
askance his nut-brown forehead.
peculiar grouping. Two older men, a dog, a young doe and several gulls all strolling in
the shallow surf and enjoying the afternoon experience. An hour never passed by so
quickly and enjoyably.
***
We always spend Christmas with my daughter and her family in Hammonds Plains. It
has become a tradition. Each Christmas Eve, we help my granddaughter compose a
letter to Santa that, during the course of the evening, is sent up the chimney with a
long list of requests. Before she goes reluctantly to bed, we always put out a glass of
milk and a couple of cookies for the old gentleman, just to help him along.
After chiding him for his obvious support of such a losing team, he admitted his concern
as a devoted fan. Maybe they need my help he chuckled, rather obliquely.
On Christmas morning, there under the tree as always, was a huge pile of gifts that then
took most of the morning of organised chaos to unwrap with all the accompanying
hugs and kisses. We were coming to the lower end of the pile when I noticed the
empty glass and a few crumbs on the plate we had left out a few hours earlier. Neatly
tucked under the glass was a piece of folded paper. Written across the page was a
simple sentence in a spidery hand. Perhaps next summer on the beach was all it said.
And perhaps the Maple Leafs will win the cup this year after all!
For the next hour we walked together to the far end of the beach. He turned out to
be the most fascinating company and a wonderful raconteur. Amber had obviously
fallen in love with him as she nuzzled against his side. I also noticed that at least a
dozen seagulls had flown down and were patiently walking beside us. A small deer
appeared from behind one of the dunes and joined what must have looked like a most
The above was written after Christmas last year. I regret that I did not meet my friend
this past summer. I guess our late afternoon stroll got pushed back in my memory and
maybe I was too busy in my life to spare the time to walk on Martinique. But I thought
of him the other day, and with the coming of Christmas, I hope he will pay us all a visit
again. And again, maybe this is the year for the Leafs to win.
Opinion
[Editors note: The following article is a shortened version of a longer report that the
Community Campus Vision Association has put together. Jean McKenna is one of the
founders of CCVA. The complete report is on the Cooperators website at http://www.
easternshorecooperator.ca/ccva_report_on_esdh_december_2016]
The Community Campus Vision Association has been advocating for a new school that
would combine and replace Eastern Shore District High and Gaetz Brook Junior High.
Our advocacy had included the concept of a shared facility concept, a community
campus, to include a recreation complex and a seniors residential care structure.
However, it has become increasingly clear that it is futile to fight on three hills, and
it has also become clear that these two schools desperately need replacement. Our
current focus is therefore entirely on school replacement.
ESDH, which opened in 1965, now has the dubious honour of being the oldest high
school in HRM, and one of the oldest high schools in the province. The schools basic
facilities fall far short of city schools. Even St. Pats, and Queen Elizabeth which were
demolished 10 years ago, and replaced by Citadel High had much better facilities.
On a list of current problems at ESDH, CCVA has been especially concerned about
the presence of Asbestos Containing Materials (ACM). There have been several
investigations over the years which have found ACM in such places as boiler room
breaching insulation, pipe elbow parging cement, various floor tiles, drywall compound,
ceiling panels, etc. A few areas have been cleaned up, but many continue to exist.
On another front, ESDH has been forced to rely on trucked-in water, three loads a day,
since 1992, at an estimated cost today of $50,000 a year. Pollution of Petpeswick Inlet
is a recurring problem. The schools gym is far too small, and the school lacks a proper
auditorium.
Getting ESDH on the Replacement List
The process for a school to be considered for replacement requires the School Board
to place it on a wish list of non-prioritized capital construction projects that are then
Eastern Shore
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submitted to the province. Until 2016, ESDH had never been on the list, despite its
many flaws.
But this spring, our school board representative Bridget Boutilier convinced the Halifax
board to designate possible new school to replace ESDH on the capital funding request
list for the next fiscal year. On May 1, 2016, CCVA presented a petition containing 1,276
signatures to the Nova Scotia legislature requesting immediate replacement for ESDH.
CCVA members also had a brief discussion with Minister Karen Casey, and a 20-minute
meeting with Premier Stephen McNeil.
Were now waiting for Minister Caseys announcement of capital funding projects.
ESDH needs to be on this list. We do not need yet more band-aids. Please call your
MLA Kevin Murphy (902-424-5707), Premier McNeil (902-424-5707), and Minister of
Education Karen Casey (902-424-5168) and urge them to put ESDH on this years list.
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News
Department of Education on Potential Teachers Strike
y=9
"
Information
Notice
for
Parents and Guardians from The NSTU is not required to give
EECD, November 22, 2016
notice of what kind of job action
they will take. They are also not
News
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break:
Avoid Binary Option Scams
By Staff
If you spend any time at all on the Internet, you have seen the ads: a friendly looking
woman, photographed against a wealthy-looking background, explains how she wants
to show you how to make $100,000 in the next 3 weeks. Then the ad cuts to another
person, who waives a check for $54,600 and tells you he made that much money
yesterday.
All you have to do to start making all this money is just sign up for an account, fork over
as little as $250, and you too can make your fortune with binary options.
The Nova Scotia Securities Commission has recently issued a general warning about the
dangers of investing in binary options, in addition to warning about a specific company
advertising to Nova Scotians called Magnum Options, which may also do business as
Hampshire Capital Ventures Ltd., and operates the websites magnumoptions.com and
magnumoptions.eu
Heres the NSSCs description of binary options trading:
Binary options are like an all or nothing wager. You bet that an asset (currency, shares,
etc.) will rise or fall in value within a specific amount of time, sometimes as limited as a
few minutes. At the expiry of that time, you either profit a pre-determined amount or
you lose 100% of your initial investment.
HRMs sudden decision to choke off development permits for 25-acre lots was not the
only surprise blow against rural development this year. Regional Council also overrode
the recommendation of its staff and decided to require lot-grading permits for all new
buildings in the municipality. Staff had recommended these expensive permits(up to
$6,000 and weeks of additional waiting time) only for areas serviced by municipal
sewers.
At the Save Rural HRM protest on September 20 this fall, Mayor Savage promised rural
relief from the lot-grading law in the form of a motion that Councillor David Hendsbee
was introducing that same day.
The good news is that Regional Council passed Hendsbees resolution unanimously,
ordering up a staff report with respect to initiating the process to repeal or amend
the Lot Grading Bylaw L-400 to exclude those areas outside the serviceable boundary.
The bad news is the staff has informed Hendsbee that this report will not be ready
until February 2017. In a phone interview, Hendsbee said that he was pushing to get
the report done earlier, so that the 25-acre lot bylaw and the lot-grading bylaw could
be finished together.
Among the problems that people have encountered who have sent money to one of
these online binary options companies are:
1. The company takes your deposit, and then refuses to return it.
2. You think youve made money on an option, but the company refuses to turn over
your gains.
3. Some companies engage in identify theft.
4. The companies manipulate their software to turn your potential gains into losses.
If you need more information, call the Nova Scotia Securities Commission toll-free at
1-855-424-2499, or send an email to NSSCinquiries@novascotia.ca.
Community
Provincial
Volunteer
Awards
Do you know an
outstanding volunteer
who deserves recognition?
Nominate them!
Visit novascotia.ca/volunteerawards
for more information
Over 40 years Experience serving the Eastern Shore! Specializing in Drilled wells, Pump installs,
Clean and surge processes for all Drilled and Dug Wells, and trouble-shooting all well problems.
When Well Driller A provides you with a quote that is much lower
than Well Driller B you might think you are getting a great deal,
but a great deal does not necessarily equal great value.
Community
When people are trapped inside their cars after a crash, its our local firefighters who
get them out and provide medical care, a process called vehicle extrication. The
Eastern Shore vehicle extrication team, all volunteer firefighters from the firehalls in
Musquodoboit Harbour, Oyster Pond and Ostrea Lake, recently won an award during
a province-wide competition in Windsor, NS, qualifying them for a place in the North
American Championships next year in Enfield.
I sat down with Jami Smith, an experienced female firefighter, and Brennan Handy, a
veteran of several training courses, to learn more about how these competitions work.
I understand your team came in 3rd in limited pit and 7th in unlimited pit.
Whats the difference between limited and unlimited pit?
Brennan: Limited pit is the use of hand tools only, such as reciprocal saws, air chisels,
crow bars, jacks and lifts. Unlimited pit is using the Jaws of Life that has cutters,
spreaders, and rams to assist, and any other necessary tools. We try to practice in
situations where the hydraulic tools may not be available or are not working.
What was your role on the team?
Jami: I was the secondary medic. All the team members help to stabilize and make
sure the vehicle cant move while we are operating, Then the medics attend to the
injured while the rest of the members do their work. I also was assigned to help with
the tools when I was needed.
I assume that good communication is important?
Brennan: Yes. The incident commander forms a plan while the vehicle is being
stabilized, and then must communicate that to the team members as soon as possible.
The medics ensure they stay in contact with the patients to assess their medical needs
and also to keep them informed about what is happening and reassure them.
What are the benefits of competing?
Jami: We have the opportunity to practice for months in advance, and then watch
other teams performing their scenarios. It is a huge learning benefit for us in reacting
to actual situations we may encounter in traffic accidents.
How many members are on the team, and what do they do?
Brennan: There are 6 members on each team. An officer in charge, a primary and
secondary medic, and one firefighter each for cutting the vehicle, spreading apart
the metal, and using hand tools. My role was to assess the scene for hazards, help to
stabilize the vehicle, operate the hand tools, and remove glass from the vehicle.
News
At its November 22 meeting, Regional Council failed once again to straighten out the
mess over the Planning Departments decision last spring to suddenly start banning
development on large lots without 100 feet of frontage on public roads. In a meeting
that was marked by sharp exchanges among councillors and a juvenile level of confusion
over missing documents, Council punted the issue into 2017.
In a posting on its Facebook page on November 23, Save Rural HRM said that We
are extremely disappointed in the debate that occurred in Council on November
22nd regarding the recommendations for amending the 100 Public Road Frontage
requirement By-law. Several Councillors made motions for common sense amendments
only to be voted down 10-5. Not only did the urban Councillors not support us; some of
them actively spoke against us!
Last spring, the Planning Department created an uproar when it suddenly began
enforcing the 100-foot frontage bylaw, after having ignored the bylaw since 1996 and
issued a number of building permits which it now declared were mistakes. For the
owners of similar lots, the surprise rejection of their building permits seemed grossly
unfair, at best, much less the multi-hundred-thousand dollar losses they were facing
with their now almost valueless properties.
Council finally gave in, and ordered Planning to prepare a report on a quick fix that
Council would consider at its November 22 meeting, leading to a public hearing on
December 13th.
Planning identified a total of 77 lots in 6 locations around HRM where it had issued
mistaken building permits. In its report to Council, Planning proposed to make the
narrowest possible exemptions: all of the existing homes would be recognized as legal,
and the owners of similar undeveloped lots in these 6 locations would be allowed to
apply for building permits.
Councillor David Hendsbee then attempted to offer four additional amendments to
correct problems from the more than 250 comments Planning received during the
public comment period. Mayor Savage was puzzled: where were these amendments?
Councillors had not received them in their packets of info for this session.
In an effort to keep the process from slipping, Hendsbee proposed including his
amendments with the other materials for the public hearing on December 13th, a
suggestion which the city attorney shot down. Instead, the Council directed staff to
prepare a supplementary report on Hendsbees amendments; the public hearing for
this supplementary hearing could not take place until January. Council voted 14-1 to
proceed with the December 13th hearing.
However, Chief Planner Bob Bjerke has since decided to cancel the December 13th
public hearing; instead, Bjerke will schedule a public hearing in early January on the
Planning Departments original proposal, plus the supplementary report on Hendsbees
amendments.
George Hornmoen, one of the organizers of Save Rural HRM and an owner of one of
the contested lots on West Jeddore, sent Hendsbee a blistering email attacking the
additional delay. Hornmoen asked why the Mayor, knowing that the rule was going to
be changed, could not sign a simple order allowing at least one of the other impacted
landowners to start construction:
We all know that they will eventually get a permit because who in their right mind
within HRM wants us to continue to make HRM look heartless and cruel? It is a question
of how much longer HRM wants to torture these poor folks. Why continue to be so
callous and mean spirited? Who would fault the Mayor for showing some compassion?
Just give them their permit now. Its one house and if they had started last fall they
would be in it already.
There are no indications that the Mayor is considering such a move. As things stand
now, there will be a public hearing in January. Assuming Council votes to approve all
the amendments, then there is an additional delay while the province approves the
changes. So the earliest that anyone may get a permit is likely to be February 2017.
The Program:
Supports new business or an
existing one in which you had no
prior ownership.
Provides up to 40 weeks of
funding to cover living expenses
(78 weeks if you have a disability).
Requires you to devote at least
35 hours each week to develop
and carry out your business plan.
You mus also show proof of
personal financial investment in
the business.
People
10
The Magic of the Season for Overseas Seaman
By Maelissa Watson
Community
Arthritis and Exercise
By Lori Youden
11
14
Tree Lighting
December 3 at 5:30pm
Railway Station, Musq. Hbr.
Presented by the Musq. Hbr. &
District Lions. Treats for all!
4th Annual Musquodoboit
Harbour Christmas Parade of
Lights
December 3 at 6:00pm
There will be activities
throughout the community
before and after the parade. We
will be collecting non-perishable
food items and toys for our local
food bank. After party at the Old
School.
Christmas Dance
December 3, door & bar open at
8pm; dance runs 9pm-1am.
Petpeswick Yacht Club
Featuring Ruckus
Advance tickets as event may
sell out! Call Paula at 902889-2435 for tickets. $10 for
members and $15 for nonmembers
Luncheon, Tea & Sale
December 4, 12-2pm
St Genevieves Church
723 East Chezzetcook Road
Adult $12: turkey salad plate,
gingerbread/apple crisp, lemon
sauce & cream, beverage;
Kids $4: hot dog, potato chips,
gingerbread/apple crisp, lemon
sauce & cream, beverage. Sale
items: baked goods, crafts, ticket
raffle, homemade cake raffle,
new to you table, gift table.
Visit http://gfcs69.wixsite.com/
stgpn
ONGOING EVENTS
Porters Lake Seniors Group
Wednesdays at 1:30pm
Porters Lake Community
Centre. 902-827-2814
TOPS
Tuesdays at 7pm
St. James Hall, Jeddore
H.R.M. District 2
PrestonChezzetcookEastern Shore
Office Phone:
Cell Phone:
City Hall:
fax:
902-889-3553
902-483-0705
902-490-4050
902-829-3620
311
david.hendsbee@halifax.ca
david@hendsbee.ns.ca
www.hendsbee.ns.ca
@david_hendsbee
facebook.com/david.hendsbee
Nature
14
Making Life Better for Owls at Otter Ponds
By Dan Hutt
Remembrance
15
On Remembrance Day, students at Eastern Shore District High School dedicated a memorial for Pte. Nathan Smith, an ESDH graduate who died in
Afghanistan in April 2002. Smith and three other members of Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry died in a friendly fire incident, the first of
some 158 Canadian military members to die in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2011. The bronze memorial plaque was donated by the Canadian
Pacific Railways Afghanistan memorial plaque program.
Age-Friendly Grants
The NS Age-Friendly
Communities Grant supports
age-friendly community
planning and collaborative,
innovative, and locally-based
solutions that enhance
the social and economic
contributions of older adults in
rural and urban communities
across Nova Scotia.
Apply by Dec.12th
http://novascotia.ca/seniors/
age_friendly_program.asp
Happy
Holidays
www.zareskilaw.ca
DENISE E. ZARESKI
BARRISTER & SOLICITOR
EMAIL: denise@zareskilaw.ca
MICHAEL BRINE
7782 HWY. 7 MUSQUODOBOIT HARBOUR
NOVA SCOTIA B0J 2L0
TEL: 902 889 3437 FAX: 902 889 3541
ViewPoint Realty
Seasons Greetings
&
Happy New Year!
From all of us at the
Eastern Shore Cooperator