Waterville Airport Relocation

As Councillor for District 3, I've developed a strong position on the relocation of Kings County's Municipal Airport.  This was briefly stated in the September edition of the Centrepost and is enlarged upon and updated here.

1. Greenwood is not where a new municipal airport should go because close proximity to major markets, defined as within an hour’s drive of Halifax, is key.  
2. A new municipal airport located in Eastern Kings will provide additional jobs and bring new investments. Research and the experience of other jurisdictions proves that.

Several councillors are seeking to create a win-win situation for both big (Michelin) and smaller businesses (several are already located at the current airport). The work to strike a transition team capable of bringing the right skills to the table is being spearheaded by Councillor Winsor, whose professional experience is closely linked to this type of project.  By making smart decisions, based on evidence, Kings County can arrive at an ambitious but doable, go-forward plan.

It is my position that any delay in getting this in place puts current airport-related businesses and their investments at risk. That is why this motion passed in October is so important:

"Establish a Waterville Airport Relocation Project with a supporting Project Committee... with parameters outline due by no later than November 19, 2013."

We have a new provincial government with a focus on small business.  Here are some key points I believe the county needs to keep in mind as negotiations and partnerships proceed:

1. The airport’s current location does not permit the creation of the type of general aviation service that a municipality of our size needs and deserves. 
2. A location east of the current Waterville site, with the potential for a longer runway, needs to be identified and secured.
3. Kings County has collaborated with the Province of Nova Scotia to set in motion Michelin's requirements for airport land. It is now time for the Province to help us address the risks this creates for current airport-related businesses and to create a new municipal airport.
4. The Municipality of the County of Kings can take the lead and embrace the opportunities presented by this necessary move of the airport.  
5. Relocation can be seen as a plus, not a negative.  It allows the need for a longer runway to be addressed and this will give the airport a sharper competitive edge. (It's unlikely that without Michelin's need for additional land there would have been action on the Waterville's airport needs).

I'm thrilled that this relocation puts us in the frame for significant commercial growth in our county. Council is poised to take another step forward on November 19.  I hope residents will be there to learn more about council's activities on this important file.

Please do not hesitate to be in touch to discuss your views on any topic.  I can be reached at 902-670-2949.

The Work of Centreville Park Association Directors and Volunteers

In addition to keeping the Centreville Park in fine shape through regular cleanup and maintenance days, Centreville’s park association volunteers have also signed on for “course work” at Acadia. That course work is nearing completion with a report due in the weeks immediately ahead. 

Alongside students enrolled in Parks and Open Space Resource Management and Community Development, park volunteers have hosted groups where community members have helped determine development options for the Percy A. Lydiard Park. I have attended some of these.  The students have brought skill and enthusiasm to their task.  Lots of valuable input has been gathered.  I anticipate a great report.

The end result will give us all a great deal of direction and focus. With a well-researched plan in hand the community of Centreville can step forward.  Soon, directors will be turning their attention to accessing the resources required for full development of the park’s potential. They are inviting everyone's help.

Meanwhile, they already have in hand "50 cent" dollars towards installing a new swing set and replacing the roof and siding on the park building.  Keep an eye out during your walks in the park.  Changes will materialize in the weeks immediately ahead.

I want to send a well-deserved cheer out to all the park directors, volunteers, and those who attended the park development group discussions.  Your work is very much appreciated!

Please do not hesitate to be in touch to discuss your views on any topic.  I can be reached at 902-670-2949.

Ready for Change (published in June 2013 Centrepost)

Before and since I became your Kings County councillor reducing the number of local government units has been debated. Streamlining government programs and reducing costs to the taxpayer should drive our discussions.  Do you know that close to seventy elected individuals currently represent Kings County citizens?  We work for you as commissioners of one of several villages, as councillors or mayors for the towns of Wolfville, Kentville or Berwick, or as your Kings County councillors.

Merge. Eliminate. Consolidate. Collaborate.  There are many ways to change.  There’s one very good local example of why we should… Valley Waste Resource Authority. Collaboration between many municipal units has given us “garbage” pick up that’s better. And it costs only $163 per house per year. It’s so good VWRA has won two provincial awards for leadership and innovation in waste reduction.

Your municipal leaders are currently examining further mergers.  Like waste management this regionalization has been initiated at the provincial level. This time the topic is economic development.  We are perhaps only weeks, or a month or two away, from signing a Regional Economic Network agreement with municipal units from both Hants and Kings Counties.  This agreement will match municipal and provincial dollars in equal parts.

A more “made at home” collaboration is also due to be discussed.  It would focus on the merits of merging planning departments...  an idea that was enthusiastically endorsed at the February 2050 governance workshop...  but that has stalled somewhat since then [or at least has disappeared from public discussion].

Economies of scale will help us achieve the efficiencies needed to fully develop our valley assets.  To share or not won’t matter much if we continue to put decisions off.  Our young people are leaving and too many storefronts are empty. 

More opportunities for municipal units to get together are needed.  I’d like to see a collaborative, independent, top-to-bottom audit of all municipal government programs. This would be a great starting point.  Results could form a basis for next steps. First, by showing precisely where tax dollars are not giving us full value. Next, by suggesting where we can spend to address gaps in service and get a bigger bang for our bucks.

With some good old-fashioned valley gumption and ingenuity I bet we can find all kinds of ways to get more out of what we’ve already got. That’s what we can work for together. Better local government.  

The Waterville Relocation: Brand New Start in Eastern Kings Versus 14 Wing Greenwood

Hear Leo Glavine Speak to the Advertiser on the Topic of Relocation

 

Preliminary estimates place the sharing of runways at 14 Wing Greenwood as the cheap option for the relocation of the County of Kings’ municipal airport at Waterville.  But, the old adage “you get what you pay for” holds very true in this instance.

 

The professional report commissioned by the Province of Nova Scotia shows, and almost argues for, an additional investment up front to create a brand new “greenfield” airport in order to reap the economic dividends that only this option truly holds. If councillors go “greenfield” versus greenwood when they choose a new site for their airport there will be significant advantages: 

·       The opportunity to create the type of industry-based, local air service that a municipality of our size deserves;

·       Willingness of investors to create an airpark and related businesses. And, most importantly;

·       A close proximity to the Halifax market that will place the initial government investment at much less risk and minimize or eliminate the need for ongoing, longer term support from the taxpayer.

 

Council has received a policy statement from the owner-operators of the hangars, aircraft and/or businesses at Waterville.  It calls for a location east of the current airport. In other words a location that is about an hour’s drive from Halifax and where the county has more residential and business density.  It’s the issue of proximity to markets that marks the difference between a recreational airport and one that will support rural economic development.

 

Council has a decision to make. To date, the Government of Nova Scotia’s only go forward commitment, endorsed by council, is to communicate with the Wing 14 Greenwood Commander to explore the feasibility of a municipal airport using infrastructure at Greenwood.  That letter has been sent. With the industry’s policy statement now in hand that letter seems ill-fated. The industry says the location is wrong. No-one can approximate the timeline for a response from Greenwood but it’s unlikely to be soon and delay could be fatal to any favourable outcome.

 

Michelin deserves an immediate answer and timeline about acquiring the Waterville airport lands. Until then it can't bid on any expansion to its production. The longer we wait the more likely new jobs will be allocated to other locations.  The airport industry needs answers soon too. Dozens of operators have millions of dollars invested at Waterville and the current state of uncertainty is putting a halt to any new investment and undermining any equity owners have there.  Michelin needs government action. So too do the smaller businesses at the Waterville Airport. 

 

It all adds up to the province making a sound investment in Michelin’s potential expansion and the proper relocation of the municipal airport. Council will need to negotiate a deal that strengthens its airport and protects the investment Kings County taxpayers have made in its development.  A relocation to Greenwood is not that deal.  More than one location east of the current airport has been identified.  Moving forward with the best greenfield site will help us secure the needed location in time to attract new jobs not only through Michelin, the giant among Nova Scotia employers, but through the small businesses that are so crucial to rural economies like ours.

 

In January the Government of Nova Scotia invested $8.9 M in a partnership with Michelin to create 50 jobs.  There are currently 19 jobs at our airport each with an uncertain future and the fallout that entails.  A hundred jobs create about $1 Million annually in taxes related to salaries and wages.*

 

Everyone wants to facilitate Michelin’s potential expansion.  But we can’t lose sight of the real and urgent needs of small businesses at the airport and the steady employment they created. Our province directly benefits from each job created and losses when a pink slip is delivered. With diligence and foresight we can create a stronger economic outlook for Michelin and the airport.  It's time to seize the day and make a sound investment.

 

*(Industrial Expansion Fund http://www.gov.ns.ca/econ/ief/IEFreport/docs/IEF_Report_2010.pdf)

Brooklyn Street Crosswalk and Lights Operational!

The Municipal Public Works Staff are very pleased to see the overhead lights and crosswalks on Brooklyn Street fully operational.  We all need to USE CAUTION until this new setup is better known and recognized by drivers who are used to traveling Brocklyn Street and not encountering this crosswalk and light system.

I would urge pedestrians to look both ways ---more than once --- and to be absolutely sure that cars are slowing before stepping onto the crosswalk!  The community worked very hard to see this crosswalk and lights installed. Credit and thanks is due to everyone... including the former councillor for District 3, Dick Killam.

Kings county needs priority based budgets

Just about every family wishing to keep loved ones close to home clearly identifies economic development as job one for their elected representatives.  I’d even argue that turning council's attention more fully to sustaining and creating good jobs is long, long overdue. 

As I’ve been studying line after line in Kings County’s proposed budget for 2013-2014 I’ve been pushing for less ad-hoc spending on much and sundry in order to set significant dollars aside for three important areas:

• Economic development (creating and sustaining local jobs).

• Capital reserves for the infrastructure renewal that will be sorely needed in the years ahead.  (Much of our infrastructure is aging and we don't have a solid plan in place to fund replacements and repairs).

• Increases in grants to local organizations for community economic development iniatives.

The initial goal was to approve the 2013-2014 budget in April.  Staff and council members who are not new are noting that past budgets have not solicited so much discussion or debate. In that sense the later date anticipated for approving this year’s budget will be a good thing because council is struggling with decisions aimed at spending close to 50 million dollars wisely. 

It is my position that your council will need to start work on the 2014-2015 budget as soon as this one is approved.  That process is needed to ensure that priorities for our next budget will be more clearly identified and researched.  We have no shortage of skills in our finance department.  What is needed is innovation and direction from council to best use that talent.

Here are some of the web resources I am zeroing in on:

Center for Priority Based Budgets 

Center for Civility and Democratic Engagement 

As always, I hope to hear from you, the people who experience Kings County's strengths and weaknesses each and every day.  Please don’t hesitate to be in touch.

Regional Enterprise Network

You may have read the page 8 Editorial in the Kings County Advertiser entitled:

Regional focus the right idea. 
It asks Kings County Council and other valley muncipalities that can participate in the Regional Enterprise Network for our area to "get on board."  I couldn't agree more.  But it is understandable that Chief Administrative Officers and Councillors have had some questions and concerns to address before recommending REN to their respective councils.

What is a REN?
The RENs are potentially a powerful blue print for Economic Development.  They largely focus on the needs of business operators in the private sector.  They differ from the Regional Development Agencies, soon be gone, in that there is no place for Community Economic Development, such as brought the Grand Pre UN World Heritage Site designation to Kings County.

The editorial was a bit heavy regarding the degree to which the towns and counties of Annapolis, Kings and West Hants are "dithering."  The CAOs, Mayors and Wardens have worked hard to create a viable financial framework. For example, it is expected that Kings County alone will need to contribute close to $200,000.

The good news is that by April most, if not all of us, will likely have agreed in principle. Then it should be full speed ahead.

On Friday March 1, I attended the Rural Caucus meeting of the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities. There it was  abundantly clear that our region's REN has progressed beyond that of any of the others present. Some councils doubt they will become a part of REN --- whereas our hesitation is about having things suitably defined to move smoothly into a formal arrangement.

The local business communities of Annapolis, Kings and West Hants will be well served by the work done to date once, or if, our REN goes forward.  My bet is we will move forward soon.

What will our REN accomplish?  Here's what we have:

1. Several new councillors who are determined to see progress on the economic development agenda --- not only for Kings --- but for the entire region.
2. A REN structure providing a better mechanism for knowledgeable business people to influence outcomes.

Thus the accomplishments for, and through the business communities, located in our region should be many. Once "creativity, partnership and a broader focus" are unleashed through the REN  we will not only "keep the Annapolis Valley a vibrant, viable region" but hopefully do so side-by-side with businesses that will help create smart, stable, sustainable employment.