Holland Road/Lockview Road; Comfort centre at Snow Centre;
nature playground in Carroll’s Corner
FALL RIVER/MUSQ. VALLEY: The Laker News sat down with Waverley-Fall River-Musquodoboit Valley District 1 HRM Councillor Cathy Deagle Gammon for Councillors Corner to discuss several topics that we had on our list to question her about.
HOLLAND ROAD/LOCKVIEW ROAD
In a previous report of Councillors Corner, we had asked Deagle Gammon about why Holland Road could get speed bumps, while Lockview Road could not. It was a question residents raised in comments on the traffic calming measures for the Fletchers Lake street.
According to Deagle Gammon and Councillor Lisa Blackburn, who was also at the interview, the reasoning is because it has something to do with Lockview Road being a collector road.
“The speed bumps on Holland Road were installed because of the school,” she said. “At budget time last year there was money put into traffic calming specifically for prioritizing those around schools.
She said that’s the best answer she has at the moment on that issue.
COMFORT CENTRE AT SNOW CENTRE
Deagle Gammon spoke about the opening of the Gordon R. Snow Community Centre as a comfort centre during the ice storm power outage for a couple of nights.
“This was one of the first times that the Gordon Snow Centre was opened as a warming centre,” said Deagle Gammon. “I spent a couple of hours there. I directed people on social media and by email to the comfort center if they felt the need for it.
She said there were about 10 people who showed up for it during her two-and-a-half hours volunteering at the comfort centre.
“They were very thankful to be able to recharge devices warm, get some coffee, and some food,” she said. “There was a lot of, you know, neighbours taking care of neighbors. That kind of thing.”
One thing Deagle Gammon learned during the weekend the comfort centre was open was that the area’s JEM (Joint Emergency Management) team is inactive and needs to be restored.
“Apparently previously there was quite a robust JEM team, and so we’re light in terms of members,” she said. “I do know that I need to do a debrief with emergency measures and find out what do I need to do as councillor to beef up team and get it re-established in our community.”
PARKLAND IN MIDDLE MUSQUODOBOIT
Previous council agreed to buy land in Middle Musquodoboit to build a park. Now HRM wants to know what the community wants to do with that land, said Deagle Gammon.
“We want tot know how they would really like to see that land used,” she said. “There’s been lots of talk, but we need to formalize what that is going to be.”
Deagle Gammon is looking forward and hoping to see a big response come from the community.
NATURE PLAYGROUND IN CARROLLS CORNER
Deagle Gammon said there is an amazing project coming up at Carroll’s Corner. It’s an outdoor nature playground that the volunteers with the non-profit community centre were able to work and apply for federal funding through MP Sean Fraser (Central Nova).
“They’ve had the support of MP Fraser. They’ve had the support of their local MLA Larry Harrison and of course, of their councillor,” said Deagle Gammon. “We’re looking at a really nice outdoor playground. That’s phenomenal.
“I can’t wait for people to see what that’s going to look like in Carroll’s Corner.”
UPPER MUSQUODOBOIT RENOVATIONS
The Upper Musquodoboit Community Centre needs to have some renovations done and will be making a plan and looking for funding to do this project, said Deagle Gammon.
HELPING COMMUNITY GROUP
She said the new community group, Helping Hands: Families Helping Families Society do a lot of work with food and security.
“They do a lot of work with sharing, supporting family, supporting youth,” said Deagle Gammon. “They needed to build a building that can house food items, clothing, all of that kind of stuff. So, we gave them some district capital funds to support that.”
She said currently the group is using one of their volunteers homes, which has taken it over.
“They’re looking at making a change and doing something there which is pretty exciting for them,” she said.
