SETTLED 1765 – INCORPORATED 1946
Minutes for the Village of Westport Commission Tuesday, 3 June 2025
- Call to order: 6:39pm. Chair introduced Alison Coldwell and Shauna Brousseau from Canadian Mental Health. They attended the Village meeting as a venue to collect surveys for Coordinated Access Housing. Chair also introduced Peter Scherer, Councillor for District 4, Municipality of Digby.
- Attendees: Commissioners O’Neill and Lonergan, Clerk, Treasurer, and 11 community members
- Additions to the Agenda: Old Business: Add Ferries; New Business: Motion for Clerk to have signing authority; StoryWalk at the Library.
- Adoption of Agenda: Commissioner O’Neill moved and Commissioner Lonergan seconded the motion to adopt the Agenda. Motion carried.
- Approval of Tuesday, 6 May Village Commission Minutes: Commissioner O’Neill moved and Commissioner Lonergan seconded the motion to approve the Minutes. Motion carried.
- Approval of May Financial Statement: Commissioner O’Neill moved to accept the Financial Statement.
- Old Business:
- Community Hall door and lock replacement: Commissioner O’Neill advised that the part is in, but Pecks has not contacted him to set a date for installation.
- Life Rings on Wharves: Clerk thanked Penny Graham, Clayton Snook, and Brian Bowerman for installing the two life rings on the wharves. Commissioner O’Neill will provide the rope.
- Village Road Repairs Update:
i.Commissioner O’Neill advised that the wooden corner extension at Second Street and Wellington Street is rotten and weak and presents a hazard. He will call Public Works for a ticket #. Peter Scherer suggested obtaining an engineers report, and Amy Tudor offered to call on behalf of Islands Consolidated School as this corner is part of the daily school bus route.
ii. Commissioner O’Neill advised that Public Works will install some culvert. He reminded all that Public Works may need to dig in ditches and that signs in ditches “do not dig in ditch” placed by Community residents would not stop Public Works employees from digging.
iii. Peter Scherer gave an update for the status of J-Class roads. The Municipality allocated funding, but the Province dropped the ball, so there will not be any work this summer. Discussion about when J-Class roads began, and if Westport now has J-Class roads because we lost the 217 Highway. Peter Scherer will check with the CAO at the Municipality. He suggested a letter to MLA Balser requesting the Province share the cost of repairs to J-Class roads.
- Village Hall Rental Policy moved to the end of Old Business. See l below.
- Westport Recreation Auxiliary Outdoor Court Update:
i.Commissioner O’Neill advised that a surveyor will be needed to determine property boundaries for the court. Clerk to contact DeWolfe and Morse Surveying Ltd., Middleton NS, and request a boundary survey with one pin. The Commission will absorb the cost.
ii.Commissioner O’Neill mentioned that Mr. Kenney recommended asphalt over cement as he was concerned that the court would be close to the road and his trucks could crack the new court topping. Furthermore, Mr. Kenney suggested rocks be removed before sand is used to cover the court, as frost will bring-up more rocks each spring.
iii.The Auxiliary has a concern with the Land Lease Agreement and they would like to discuss the document with the Commission.
- Code of Conduct Investigator: Commissioner O’Neill moved and Commissioner Lonergan seconded the motion to appoint Mr. Jonathan Cuming from Taylor Maclellan and Cochrane of Kentville as the Village of Westport Code of Conduct Investigator. Motion carried. Mr. Cuming’s information (902-678-6156, 50 Bridge Street, Kentville NS) will be placed on the Village Website. The three Villages on Brier and Long Island will work together and therefore the costs for the Investigator will be lower than each Village obtaining their own Investigator.
- Refund of Insurance for Fire Hall and Fire Trucks: The Municipality compensated the Village $5,572.00 for Fire Truck and Fire Hall insurance. This was a 50% compensation for 2024-2025 Insurance paid by the Village. Clerk will submit insurance forms to the Municipality for compensation of 60% of 2025-2026 Insurance paid for Fire Trucks and Fire Hall.
- Accessibility Grants for Village Building Washrooms: Clerk provided information of several Provincial or Federal grants available for accessibility upgrades. Clerk advised that quotes could be started now for 2026 applications. Commissioner O’Neill will ask S&G Carpentry for a quote.
- Water Testing:
i. Testing could not be not done in May as the hospital was closed. Clerk will take a sample on 9 June.
Ii. Nova West Lab costs: Clerk will show the cost comparison between NS Health and Nova West Lab. Discussion deferred until July.
- Village Audit Committee Meeting May Minutes: Commissioner Lonergan moved and Commissioner O’Neill seconded the motion to approve the Village Audit Committee Minutes from May. The Minutes will be posted at the Library and online.
- Ferries: Commissioner Lonergan read an email from John Majchrowicz, Manager, Marine Services, Province of Nova Scotia. The news was vague and not reassuring concerning Ferry service. Commissioners will push for an extension of Margaret’s Justice until after the tourism season. Possible reasons to extend the extension are:
i. Two ferry runs will be needed to accommodate the Westport fire department’s fleet. Westport responds to all MFR calls to Long Island, and as required, will respond to Fire Calls to Long Island. This means response times to any calls will be delayed.
ii.The ambulance service to accommodate critically ill or injured patients will be hampered.
iii.The ferries are the highway to the mainland, and as the Scotian can only take seven vehicles per trip, there will be delays, as the current ferry takes 21 vehicles. Vehicular traffic during the high tourist season generally results in numerous daily overloads, which would compound the delays when using the Scotian. This delay will translate to late arrivals, or worse, missing appointments in Digby and beyond.
iv. The number of transport trucks and their size, plus fuel delivery trucks, will quickly fill the Scotian and cause overloads.
v. A meeting will be arranged at Tiverton with all Municipal government levels (Villages, Municipal, Provincial, and Federal) and DATA.
vi. Peter Scherer will write a letter of support on behalf of Westport and send it to MLA Jill Balser.
- Village Hall Rental Policy 05: More discussion needed. Deferred to the next meeting.
8. New Business:
- Peter Scherer, District 4 Councilor for Municipality of Digby:
i.Councillor Scherer asked to be notified when the Village submits a grant to the Municipality so he may support our application.
ii. He will provide a listing of all J-Class roads and confirm with the CAO how long J-Class roads have been used.
iii. A Long Island resident approached Peter about creating a committee to discuss Municipal budget and property taxes. Peter will inform the Village when the Committee is created.
iv.Peter asked for feedback for his monthly phone call with NS Health. Commissioner O’Neill asked that Peter provide positive feedback about our Nurse Practitioner.
- March Pay for Clerk: Clerk requested pay for six hours worked in March. Commissioner O’Neill motioned and Commissioner Lonergan seconded the motion to pay the Clerk $150.00 for the six hours. Motion carried. Clerk thanked the Commissioners.
- Bank Signing Authority for Clerk: Commissioner O’Neill moved and Commissioner Lonergan seconded the motion to approve the Clerk banking authority. Motion carried.
- Westport Library Story Walk: The proposed date for the Story Walk at the Library is 24 July to 28 August. The story this year is Let’s Go! Haw ekwa! by Julia Fleet.
9. Next Village Commission Meeting: Tuesday, 8 July 2025 at 6:30pm at the Community Hall.
10 Adjournment: 9:09pm
ORIGINAL DOCUMENT SIGNED 8 JULY 2025
__________________________________________ ________________________________________
Gordon O’Neill, Head Commissioner Jacqueline Journeay, Clerk
July 2025 July 2025