Minutes Village of Westport Commission
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
1. Call to Order:6:34pm
2. Additions to the Agenda:None
3. Adoption of Agenda:Gordie Motioned to adopt. Shelley 2nd. Motion Carried.
4. Minutes of Tuesday, March 21, 2023.Gordie Motioned to adopt. Trevor 2nd. Motion Carried.
5. Monthly Financial Statement
a. February Financials.Gordie Motioned to adopt. Shelley 2nd. Motion Carried.
6. Old Business:
a. Asset Retirement Obligations Assessment: Still waiting on date. Clerk to follow up.
b. Comm Hall doors and locks repairs/replacement: Doors have been ordered.
c. NS Environment Contamination Notice 21 Second St: Jeff Faulkner called from Strum
Consulting to see if we were looking to proceed with any of their recommendations.
Commissioners advised no. No further action at this time. To be removed from agenda.
d. Island Medical Services: Gordie to reach out to Jill Balser regarding ambulance services.
e. Cover for Comm Hall Heat Pump: Mike McKinnell was attending the meeting and
offered to make a cover for the community hall Heat Pump for no charge. Commissioners
advised he could get supplies from RE Robicheau and bill to the Village account. To be
removed from agenda.
f. Veterans Signs:Clerk has not had much response from the Digby or Freeport Legions
regarding a list of names/banner inquiries. Takes approximately 30 days for the banners.
Will continue to try to get further details regarding veteran details. Will gather examples
of banners so Commissioners can decide on details to be included on banner. Digby print
and promo will be used to produce the banners. Gordie advised the church is interested in
covering the cost of producing one or two banners and that Jimmy Outhouse was
interested in paying for one. The option of covering the cost for producing the banners
will be available to families as the village will only be creating 2 a year.
g. Christmas Fund:Thank you is on website and cards going out this week. To be removed
from agenda.
h. Beach stairs:No set date for construction but still looking at May. To be removed from
agenda.
i. Audit Committee Posting: Gordie confirmed Pat would be on audit committee and
Crystal McDormand would assist her as needed. Allison Kouzovnikov was in attendance
and advised she would also like to be on the committee.Next meeting a date will be set
for training.
7. New Business:
8. Next Village Meeting Tuesday, May 2, 2023
9. Adjournment: 8:40pm
Questions from the floor:
-Laura Titus advised the picnic table at southern point is rotten. She would like to donate one with a plack
on it in memory of her father. The commissioners all agreed. She would also like to paint some of the
pallet seats around the island and was wondering if the Village had any paint available. The clerk will
reach out to the community via Facebook for donations of leftover paint.
-Resident advised there is a broken board at the southern point fence. Gordie advised he would check into
it.
-Inquiry about signs for the Slocum Monument. Gordie advised we do have and it will be put up for
summer.
-Inquiry about garbage cans for Northern Light & Pond Cove. Gordie advised we do have and they were
put away for the winter.
-Inquiry if we could change the image on Google that appears when searching Westport NS-shows the
post office. Commissioners advised they would look into it.
-Inquiry about the picnic area off of Western Light road which used to be mowed but no longer is. The
area is now part of the conservation area. Gordie advised they were unlikely to spend money to have it
maintained and probably would not want it as a picnic area now that it is part of the conservation.
-Road conditions, particularly to Western Light, are very rough. Gordie advised he would look into it and
if nothing happens possibly the Village could look at getting a load of rock to improve it.
-Property tax bills went up for many and some more than doubled. The Municipality is stating “it is what
it is”. The Village has not changed it’s rate or raised it in years but it has no control over the rates. Gordie
did advise he would inquire but it is not something we can change ourselves.
-Allison Kouzovnikov was inquiring about the sewer systems, ditches, and drainage issues. Residents in
attendance and commissioners discussed the issues with rain water flooding and the sewer drainage. As
there is no sewer system this is the responsibility of each home owner. Gordie discussed the “eco flow”
septic system that a few residents have put in place and whether there may be some funding or grants
available to help with the cost of having these installed. It was discussed that many home owners had
filled in the drainage ditches around their homes which has most likely caused some of the drainage and
flooding issues we experience. Gordie advised the municipality will not look into the sewer systems nor
do any roadwork to change sewer directions/add pipes and that it would be the responsibility of the home
owner to get the appropriate paperwork to do so and cover all costs. Gordie did advise he would look into
the by-laws around ditches.