Sackville’s Wheaton Covered Bridge closed indefinitely for public safety

Posted on July 16, 2024 by brucewark

MLA Megan Mitton says she’s hoping to have more information by the end of the week on the indefinite closure of the Wheaton Covered Bridge on Sackville’s High Marsh Road.

In an e-mail to Mitton, an official with the provincial department of transportation and infrastructure (DTI) said the bridge was closed last Thursday after a recent investigation raised concerns about its structural condition.

“This measure is necessary in order to ensure the safety of the motoring public. DTI is aware of the importance of that structure, and all the options are currently being evaluated,” the e-mail added.

A further e-mail to Warktimes today from DTI says “there is currently no timeline” for reopening the bridge.

Tantramar Town Engineer Jon Eppell says he has been told that the province will be undertaking a detailed evaluation of the structure.

During a tour of the bridge today, Sackville resident Percy Best pointed to the many holes in its roof because of missing wooden shingles as well as rotting interior boards.

“The whole bridge is in rough shape,” he told Warktimes. “It needs a major upgrade and a new roof would be number one,” he added.

Photo shows detached angle brace (top right) one of many that maintain the bridge’s structural rigidity

Best says a thorough engineering study would be needed if the province decides to repair the historic bridge that was built in 1916.

An online article by the Tantramar Heritage Trust says that around 1990 two additional steel supports were installed underneath the bridge.

Best points to a  sign on the east side of the bridge that prohibits large trucks. Another sign limits the weight of vehicles to only five tonnes probably insufficient for farm wagons hauling heavy loads of manure.

Last week, Best crawled under the bridge where he photographed a sagging diagonal brace with pieces added over the years to maintain strength.

Photo showing sagging brace and the two steel supports added around 1990. Photo: Percy Best

“Who knows how long the bridge will be closed,” Best says, adding that he worries the province may replace it with something more modern.

He laments the disappearance of covered bridges in New Brunswick.

The National Trust for Canada says at their peak in the 1940s, there were 340 in the province, but only 58 of them are still standing.

According to Tantramar Heritage Trust, there were once seven covered bridges in Sackville Parish, five of which crossed the Tantramar River.

Only the Wheaton Bridge remains.

To read more, click here.

Percy Best, Wheaton Covered Bridge

Posted in New Brunswick government, Town of Tantramar | Tagged | 8 Comments

Tantramar council votes to keep Sackville water flowing in — and out

Posted on July 14, 2024 by brucewark

Mona Lisa savours a glass of clear well water near a flood retention pond

Water is the driving force of all nature — Leonardo da Vinci.

Tantramar Council allocated thousands on Tuesday to ensure the steady flow of well water into Sackville taps and thousands more to add the final touches to a project designed to keep flood waters flowing out of town and into the Tantramar River.

“Pump house one and two are old timber construction pump houses in the Sackville well field that are in significantly deteriorated condition,” Town Engineer Jon Eppell told council.

“They were planned to start replacement about four years ago, but it’s just now happening,” he added.

“The estimated cost — and I emphasize it is estimated — is about $113,000.”

Eppell noted that the cost is within the capital budget already allocated for the project.

It includes $55,000 to replace temporary pump #1 that was installed after the main pump failed last winter as well as additional well-drilling work; $35,000 for electrical work and $22,000 for additional technical work on both wells #1 and #2.

The new pump house #1, with its detachable metal roof, was installed last week and still requires installation of siding

Eppell said the pump house over well #3 is made of fibreglass and is in good shape.

All three wells and the water treatment plant are in the Walker Road/Ogden Loop area.

“There is some urgency from our end to get this done because this is a lower water demand period for us,” Eppell said.

“We’re only running off two well pumps so we are a little bit vulnerable and we want to get this done and finished before the university students return.”

To read the town engineer’s full report to council, click here.

For earlier coverage, click here.

Finishing touches

Meantime, council heard that town managers were successful in their application for an additional $510,000 in provincial money to finish Phase III of Sackville’s Lorne Street flood control project designed to retain excess storm water during heavy rains and then discharge it into the Tantramar River at low tide.

Council voted to allocate $172,200 for the construction of two pedestrian bridges that will complete the walking trail around retention pond #3 behind the community gardens on Charles Street.

The bridges are needed to cross one ditch that will drain water from retention pond #2 beside Lorne Street via pipes already installed under the CN tracks and another ditch about 100 metres away that will drain water from a nearby wetland.

Without the bridges, hikers and dog walkers around retention pond #3 would be forced to retrace their steps instead of completing a circular loop.

“I know personally, I don’t like going on a trail so much where I have to go one way and then come back the same way,” Eppell told reporters after the council meeting.

“It’s nice to do a loop and see something slightly different.”

Photo shows 3 pipes installed under the CN tracks that will carry water into retention pond #3. A pedestrian bridge will be built across the ditch that will be dug where the yellow barriers are

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Tantramar council gives preliminary approval to revised bylaw on loitering and soliciting

Posted on July 10, 2024 by brucewark

Demanding street beggar. Photo created with help from Chat GPT

In a 6-2 vote, Tantramar Town Council gave first and second readings Tuesday night to a new bylaw that would prohibit loitering and soliciting in public places.

The proposed bylaw had been substantially revised from earlier versions including one that was rejected by council last month.

For one thing, the word “beg” has been replaced by “solicit” which is defined as “to ask for money, donations, goods or other things of value whether by spoken, written or printed word or bodily gesture for one’s self.”

If it receives third and final reading, the new bylaw would now prohibit soliciting or harassing “a pedestrian who has made a negative initial response to the solicitation or has otherwise indicated refusal.”

It would also ban anyone from soliciting “from the occupant of a motor vehicle in a matter which obstructs or impedes the convenient passage of any vehicular traffic unless with the approval of the Chief Administrative Officer or designate.”

But the proposed bylaw now also says that the restrictions “shall not apply to sidewalk musicians.”

Nicole Bulmer voiced concerns that the bylaw could interfere with fundraising efforts

During a five-minute presentation to council, Sackville resident Nicole Bulmer expressed concerns that the complaint-driven bylaw could interfere with sidewalk or street solicitations for minor hockey or other youth sports as well as the annual fire department boot drive or the Mt. A. student Shinerama campaign that raises money for cystic fibrosis.

“I urge council to consider the impacts these fundraisers have had in terms of community services they support,” Bulmer said, adding that the vaguely worded bylaw could harm “our community which relies on community support and everyone standing together to make it a good place to live.”

Assistant Town Clerk Becky Goodwin pointed out that, under the new bylaw, such fundraisers could proceed with the CAO’s approval.

But Councillor Debbie Wiggins Colwell said she agreed with Bulmer that the bylaw’s wording could have negative effects even if they are unintentional.

In the end, the vote went as follows:

Ayes: Mayor Black, Deputy Mayor Martin, Councillors Allison Butcher, Matt Estabrooks, Barry Hicks, Michael Tower.

Nays: Councillors Bruce Phinney, Debbie Wiggins-Colwell.

(Councillor Josh Goguen was absent.)

The new bylaw on loitering and soliciting is expected to be up for final approval at council’s next regular meeting in September.

To read the new bylaw, click here.

For previous coverage, click here.

Posted in Town of Tantramar | Tagged | 4 Comments

One more step needed to complete Sackville’s $13.8 million flood control project says town engineer

Posted on June 27, 2024 by brucewark
Intake pipes
Aboiteau gates
Intake pipes [left] running under the dyke beside Sackville’s main sewage lagoons and the two aboiteau gates [right] that feed into the Tantramar River at low tide

Tantramar Town Engineer Jon Eppell says the $3.2 million, provincially funded aboiteau designed to discharge flood water into the Tantramar River was successfully installed by the end of last month and only one more step remains before the $13.8 million Lorne Street flood control project is complete.

He explains that earlier plans called for two pedestrian bridges to close gaps around the third retention pond dug last year in the Sackville industrial park.

But the bridges had to be dropped from the plans because of rising costs.

Eppell says that the town has now applied for about $100,000 from the province’s climate change fund to build those pedestrian bridges.

“We’re hoping very soon to hear one way or the other,” he says, adding that if the money doesn’t come through, the contractor would finish the project without the bridges.

That would involve completing the system that would drain retention pond two near Lorne Street into pond three via pipes already installed under the CN tracks east of Charles Street.

Water from the two ponds would then flow through a series of pipes, culverts and ditches to the newly installed aboiteau for discharge into the river at low tide making flooding in Sackville during severe storms in Eppell’s words, “highly unlikely.”

Walking trails

Pond three in the Sackville industrial park behind the community gardens on Charles St. shown in this photo from last November

Even without the two pedestrian bridges however, hikers can continue to use the service roads that double as walking trails around ponds two and three.

Eppell says he sees lots of people using the trails that extend the ones in the Sackville Waterfowl Park.

“It’s pretty pleasant out there and I see lots of ducks now out in that area where there were no ducks before,” he says.

His words echoed those of Sackville resident Laurel McIntyre who attended the May 30 municipal “roadshow” meeting that Tantramar held at the Civic Centre.

McIntyre, who has lived on St. James Street for 39 years, says it’s great to see so much wildlife in the heart of Sackville.

She predicts that the trails will also attract tourists.

“If you really wanted to, you could park at the Visitor Information Centre, get on your bike, go through the Waterfowl Park, all the way out past the public works building and come back again,” she says.

“It’s a great ride.”

For earlier coverage including an overview of the Lorne Street project, click here.

Posted in Environment, Town of Sackville, Town of Tantramar | Tagged | 1 Comment

Tantramar residents voice concerns about policing during community meetings

Posted on June 22, 2024 by brucewark

Sgt. Eric Hanson addresses the community meeting in Dorchester on May 23rd. Hanson has headed the RCMP detachment in Sackville since the fall of 2022

Concerns about policing, especially the enforcement of traffic laws, were a consistent theme over the last month as Tantramar officials held community meetings in each of the municipality’s five wards.

“We know what you want is to see more of us,” RCMP Sgt. Eric Hanson told those who attended the first meeting in Dorchester on May 23rd.

“I do the best I can with the number of cops that we have on the road,” he added, referring to the recruitment crisis the Mounties are facing in every province and territory.

“More are coming slowly, but if you need to complain come see me and I’ll do my best to give you the service you deserve.”

Hanson said he agreed with residents in Dorchester who complained about persistent speeding on Main Street.

“It is a bad spot for speeding,” he admitted.

“Unfortunately, it’s one of hundreds of roads where people are speeding in our jurisdiction…and as much as I’d love to be able to put one hundred officers on the street, one parked at every busy street, I can’t.”

Hanson said that when officers do enforce speed limits on Rte. 106 in Dorchester, they often write 20 to 30 tickets in a single afternoon and he added that speeding is a chronic problem in many other locations too including King Street in Sackville.

“It is important to bring those specific locations to my attention and to my officers’ attention. If I could put somebody there 24 hours a day writing speeding tickets, I would, but it’s just not a reality unfortunately.”

RCMP sign outside the detachment at Town Hall in Sackville. Last fall, Tantramar council voted to increase the number of officers from 10 to 14 under a municipal policing service agreement that covers Sackville, Dorchester and the former local service districts

Last fall, Tantramar Town Council voted to pay for 14 full-time RCMP officers assigned to Sackville, Dorchester and the former local service districts (LSDs) under a new municipal policing service agreement (MPSA).

The former town of Sackville previously had 10 full-time officers, but because of illness and recruiting problems, the number had fallen to around eight.

The former village of Dorchester and the former LSDs were policed under a separate provincial policing service agreement (PPSA), but are now included in Tantramar’s municipal agreement that came into effect this spring.

During this week’s community meeting in Westcock, former Sackville Mayor Shawn Mesheau asked if the new contract still allows the municipality to set priorities for policing.

Chief Administrative Officer Jennifer Borne replied that the RCMP will set priorities in conjunction with town council.

“We can certainly ask the RCMP if they can share a document [on priorities] or whatever they’ve prepared for the public,” she said.

“So, it’s not in the contract that the municipality would set the priorities for what it needs in policing?” Mesheau asked.

“In conjunction with council, they [RCMP] would set the priorities, yes,” Borne said.

“So, those aren’t public?” Mesheau asked.

“They’re not published right now, but we can certainly take the steps to see that that gets published, absolutely,” Borne replied. “Great point.”

Note: Article 6.1 of the MPSA that governed policing in Sackville gave the mayor the power to set “the objectives, priorities and goals” of the RCMP.

Article 5.5 of the agreement said this about the normal complement of officers who are members of the municipal RCMP detachment:

To read the Sackville contract, click here.

To read about the RCMP’s most recent promise to increase traffic enforcement, click here.

For background information on RCMP municipal policing in Sackville that I published in 2021, click here.

Posted in RCMP, Town of Tantramar | Tagged | 4 Comments

UPDATED: Westcock residents ask for Tantramar’s help in fight against new quarry

Posted on June 20, 2024 by brucewark

Sharon Ward has been fighting construction of a new quarry near her home on British Settlement Road

Officials from the Town of Tantramar got an earful Wednesday night at St. Ann’s Church Hall in Westcock from angry and frustrated residents whose homes, wells and septic systems have been damaged by decades of quarry blasting.

“When we became part of Tantramar, I was under the impression that Tantramar was going to help us,” Sharon Ward told reporters after the fifth in a series of municipal meetings organized by Chief Administrative Officer Jennifer Borne.

“The only thing that’s happening is our taxes are going to go up,” Ward said.  “I would really like to see them take the initiative to try to help us.”

The three quarries in that part of the former local service district operate under provincial regulations that residents say are far too lax to limit damage from the earthquake-like blasting.

“The whole house shakes,” Ward says, “the water will turn different colours and my daughter, who lives just down the road from me, loses her water every time and there’s a lot around that do that. Our basement, we’ve had cracks fixed two or three times over the last 40 years.”

During the meeting, Ward told town officials that she and a neighbour have spent $10,000 on lawyer’s fees trying to stop another pit from going in near their homes on British Settlement Road.

Water from a well on Green Rd. after blasting in October 2020

When Borne asked if residents had raised the issue with MLA Megan Mitton, Ward responded that Mitton had helped stop the building of an access road a few feet from their homes, but that she is only one voice in the legislature.

“Could we not get a little help from Tantramar?” she asked.

Sackville resident Percy Best noted that blasting began in the early 1960s to produce rock for the diversion of the Tantramar River when the TransCanada Highway was under construction.

He predicted even more rock will be needed to reinforce the dykes that protect the Chignecto Isthmus.

“The rock for that, I’m afraid, is going to come out of British Settlement here and it will be a horrendous amount of rock that’s needed,” he said.

“It’s a terrible thing that’s happening here and it should not be allowed to happen to have these pits and blasting in a residential area and I don’t know what Tantramar has done for this Rockport Peninsula in the last 16 months,” Best said.

He compared the former LSD to an adopted child neglected by its new parents and said that town lawyers could help the residents fight their legal battles.

Former Sackville Mayor Shawn Mesheau

Former Sackville Mayor Shawn Mesheau suggested that Tantramar could bring provincial officials to the area to talk about the quarry blasting with local residents.

CAO Jennifer Borne said Tantramar could pass along residents’ concerns to the province.

“I would also ask, be patient with us and we’ll get there,” she said earlier in the meeting.

“Council is certainly hearing your concerns as well tonight.”

Neither Ward 2 Councillor Barry Hicks, who represents the area, nor Mayor Andrew Black spoke during the meeting.

Afterwards Hicks refused comment while Black asked reporters to e-mail their questions to him. At 8:56 p.m. on June 19, I e-mailed three questions to the mayor and received his responses at 9:14 a.m. on June 21:

Q1: As mayor, how do you respond to the concerns you heard tonight about the effects of quarry blasting in Ward 2 for the residents who live there?

A: It is certainly evident that our residents of Ward 2 have quarry blasting as their top priority. At the present time staff will look into the provincial authority to see if the Minister’s office can come to a meeting as well as a letter of support from Tantramar to the Minister’s office highlighting the concerns of Ward 2 residents and the impact on their daily lives.

Q2: After tonight’s meeting, I was told that residents’ concerns about the blasting have been brought to your attention repeatedly, but that you have said there’s nothing the municipality can do. Is that accurate? If not, what can the municipality do and what can you do as mayor to help the residents?

A: The province regulates private quarries and pits, so as a local government we may have limited influence. I do however feel that we can exhaust our resources and do what we can to support our residents in Ward 2. I also plan on working with UMNB to see if a resolution can be brought forward on behalf of all NB municipalities.

Q3: Percy Best asked what Tantramar has done for the Rockport area in the last 16-months. How would you answer his question?

A: All decisions of Council in the last 16 months are for the betterment of all residents of Tantramar. Below are examples by department. As Jenn stated at the session, there are not tangibles in former unincorporated areas but we are stronger as one municipality with local representation for Ward 2.

Policing- MPSA contract brings a great deal more benefits to all of Tantramar over the PPSA contract

Fire- Enhancement of Tantramar Fire Services ensures not only best service delivery in Sackville but also in Point de Bute and Dorchester, departments that will be relied upon to support and lend mutual aid in an area such as Ward 2

Active Living & Culture: Access to all rec programming & facilities

Community & Corporate Services: Physician recruitment to the benefit of all of Tantramar, communications, tourism,

Legislative Services: creation of by-laws one in particular is Dangerous or Unsightly brought forward, while enforced under a by-law officer there was little to no enforcement in the past in former unincorporated areas

Protective Services overall: animal control if required, EMO- previously no plan in place for Ward 2

Finance: create long-term planning and will assist council in key investments to be made in unincorporated areas.

For previous coverage of opposition to a new quarry and concerns about the present ones, click here.

For coverage of political protest against the province by former LSD leaders, click here.

Posted in Town of Tantramar | Tagged | 3 Comments

Tantramar Town Council says no to signing another pledge of confidentiality

Posted on June 14, 2024 by brucewark

Coun. Debbie Wiggins-Colwell

In a split 5 to 4 vote, Tantramar Council rejected a town policy on Tuesday that would have required all members of council to sign a pledge of confidentiality in addition to one they’ve already signed as part of their code of conduct.

“I’m going to have to vote no on this because it’s already been signed once,” said Councillor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell.

“I’m an elected official. I just feel like it’s maybe something that if I have something I want to say,” she added, “that I’m free and able to do so.”

She was commenting on a policy that would require all town employees, including volunteer firefighters, to sign a pledge not to disclose “all non-public, confidential or proprietary information, data, documents, agreements, files and other materials” under the control of the municipality.

Town Clerk Donna Beal said that a majority of municipalities in New Brunswick have confidentiality policies that apply to their employees, but she could not say for sure if any others require members of council to sign them.

Elected officials in Tantramar must sign a code of conduct that requires them not to disclose information discussed during closed council meetings such as personnel or legal matters.

Mayor Andrew Black said by signing an additional pledge, members of council would be showing “solidarity” with town staff.

“For myself, I would say that if the entire staff of the organization and the managers have to sign this, then I think it would be a good idea for councillors to follow suit to show that we’re held to the same standards as they are,” Black added.

‘I think it’s wrong’

“I also have a problem with this,” said Councillor Michael Tower, adding that the code of conduct required by the province already holds elected officials to a higher standard when it comes to confidential information.

“I understand what you’re trying to do with solidarity, but we have two policies and they’re trying to get us to sign something and the province already demands something of us,” Tower said.

“I think it’s wrong.”

Councillor Bruce Phinney said he would also be voting against the new policy.

“I can’t in good conscience do this. Not that we don’t want to be  a part of the solidarity thing, but sometimes there is a difference between [town] management and council,” he added.

‘Not muzzling us’

Coun. Allison Butcher

“I’ve read through this pledge of confidentiality,” said Councillor Allison Butcher.

“It’s not suggesting that we need to be even more confidential or less confidential than the confidentiality agreement we signed that was mandated by the province,” she added.

“This shows me that we are part of a team that includes the management and the staff of our municipality; it is not muzzling us in any way, it is requesting the same level of confidentiality that the other form does, so I don’t have a problem with signing this,” Butcher said.

Voting results

Moved by Councillor Matt Estabrooks, seconded by Councillor Allison Butcher:

I MOVE THAT COUNCIL APPROVE POLICY 2024-11, CONFIDENTIALITY POLICY.

Those in favour: Mayor Andrew Black, Deputy Mayor Greg Martin, Councillor Matt Estabrooks, Councillor Allison Butcher.

Opposed: Councillor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell, Councillor Michael Tower, Councillor Bruce Phinney, Councillor Barry Hicks, Councillor Josh Goguen.

Motion defeated.

To read the new confidentiality policy as it was presented to council, click here.

To read the confidentiality sections of the council code of conduct, click here.

Posted in Town of Tantramar | Tagged , | 15 Comments

Tantramar Council rejects new begging bylaw, but decides to keep the old ones — at least for now

Posted on June 12, 2024 by brucewark

Councillor Josh Goguen

In a 5 to 4 vote, Tantramar Town Council rejected a new bylaw Tuesday night that would ban begging and loitering in public places.

But then, in a surprising turn, council voted unanimously to keep current anti-begging  and loitering bylaws in Sackville and Dorchester while town staff take another look at the issues involved.

“We’re basically saying to somebody that you’re sitting down and the bylaw officer can come up to you and say, ‘What are you doing? Who are you? Why are you sitting around?'” Councillor Josh Goguen said as he argued against passing a new bylaw.

He suggested that it would give enforcement officers too much power and added that there are alternatives to issuing tickets to people asking for money, especially if they’re not being aggressive.

“We need to figure out a solution for housing and for them to have a permanent spot that they don’t have to go out on the street and ask for money anymore,” he said.

Councillor Bruce Phinney agreed adding that at the moment, begging and loitering aren’t creating problems in Tantramar.

But Councillor Michael Tower supported the new bylaw arguing that it would give police an opportunity to check on people who may be having mental health problems.

When Mayor Black called for a vote, the results were as follows: Councillors Goguen, Butcher, Phinney and Wiggins-Colwell along with Mayor Black voted against the new bylaw while Deputy Mayor Martin and Councillors Estabrooks, Hicks and Tower voted in favour.

The mayor then declared the motion to approve the bylaw had been defeated.

Surprising turn

Town Clerk Donna Beal

After the vote, Town Clerk Donna Beal pointed out that Sackville and Dorchester still have anti-begging, anti-loitering bylaws that were required under the old New Brunswick Municipalities Act.

The newer Local Governance Act allows each municipality to choose whether to enact such a bylaw.

“If it’s council’s wish not to have a loitering and begging bylaw, then a motion should be passed to repeal any former Town of Sackville or Village of Dorchester loitering or begging bylaw,” Beal told council.

After Councillor Goguen moved a motion, seconded by Councillor Phinney, to repeal the old  bylaws, Councillor Matt Estabrooks expressed concern that the town would no longer have any power to control loitering.

“That’s not something I can stand behind,” he said.

Safety issues

“By removing these bylaws, bylaw enforcement would have no authority to move anyone along whether it be in a park, whether it be in a public place, whether it be on a sidewalk,” said Treasurer Michael Beal, who currently oversees bylaw enforcement.

Michael Beal

He added that Tantramar has used the bylaw to move a loiterer along when people felt unsafe in a town park.

Beal also referred to people who feared for their children’s safety because someone had been hanging around an area for a couple of days.

“There was no ticket issued, there was no calling the RCMP and arresting an individual, it was education of the individual and that you can’t loiter here, there’s people who do feel uncomfortable and they accepted that and moved on,” he explained.

After Councillors Barry Hicks, Michael Tower and Deputy Mayor Greg Martin argued that an anti-loitering bylaw is needed, council voted unanimously not to repeal the old ones while town staff takes another look at the issues involved.

Criminalizing poverty

Sackville resident Jeska Grue, who speaks for the New Brunswick Common Front for Social Justice, says that while she’s glad council voted against a new bylaw on begging and loitering, she’s disappointed that it did not repeal the old ones.

She notes that such bylaws are similar to Canada’s now-repealed vagrancy laws that penalized poor people.

“Just for being in a public space for a sustained amount of time, somebody can be targeted and criminalized for appearing suspicious when it’s a complaint-based process,” she says.

She adds that instead of focussing on begging and loitering, Tantramar should be advocating for solutions to issues that cause poverty such as the lack of affordable housing, stagnant wages and inadequate social support.

Grue, who watched last night’s council meeting on YouTube, also had a message for the councillors and staff who expressed concerns about public safety.

“I think that we are all safer if we support and protect the most vulnerable members of our communities by looking at the underlying structural issues that are causing people to be placed into poverty.”

Posted in Town of Tantramar | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Traffic signals, crosswalk safety, prime topics at Tantramar meeting

Posted on May 30, 2024 by brucewark

Intersection at King & Main in Sackville during a quiet time in early afternoon, but traffic often backs up on King St. during busy weekday mornings. The crosswalk has overhead flashing signals and white, overhead pedestrian signs, but no yellow, fluorescent signs at eye-level

Should the Town of Tantramar install traffic lights at the sometimes-busy intersection of King and Main Streets in Sackville?

That question came up for the second time today during the third in a series of meetings in which town managers have been soliciting ideas, opinions, comments and questions from residents in the newly amalgamated town.

The issue of improving crosswalk safety also came up again as Tantramar resident Percy Best continued his eight-year campaign to get yellow, fluorescent pedestrian signs installed at every crosswalk in Sackville.

Traffic lights

A resident who was not present had submitted the traffic signals question in advance noting that it can be dangerous, especially on weekday mornings, when vehicles back up on King St. as drivers try to turn onto Main.

Town Engineer Jon Eppell

Town Engineer Jon Eppell responded that a study conducted about 10 years ago concluded that traffic lights were not warranted then.

“That’s not to say that we can’t go back and study it again,” he said, “but if we were to look at that, we’d want to look at the corridor.”

He explained that would include assessing traffic in that whole area including the driveways at the Drew Nursing Home and Sackville’s Civic Centre as well as the intersections at Salem Street, Wright Street and the one at Mallard Drive.

“We don’t right now have it in our plans to go and study that, but it’s something we can put in our plans in the next several years,” Eppell said.

Crosswalk signs & safety

The Mt. A. crosswalk across Main St. from the student residences on the right to the main campus. Note the yellow, fluorescent pedestrian signs at eye level on either side

Sackville resident Percy Best said about eight years ago, he and former Bylaw Enforcement Officer Paul Embree started a campaign to get yellow-green, fluorescent pedestrian signs installed at eye-level beside every crosswalk.

“This is a warning sign,” he said. “White signs, which are used still in a lot of municipalities, are information signs, not a warning sign.”

Percy Best

Best said all but three crosswalks in downtown Sackville now have the yellow signs and he urged the town to complete installing them on all crosswalks including the one that crosses Main Street at King.

In December 2022, a Mt. A. student was critically injured in that crosswalk and the driver who hit him was later fined $1200 for driving without due care and attention.

Best pointed out the yellow-green fluorescent pedestrian signs have been installed on all crosswalks in Sussex as well as in Oxford and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

“Traffic signs are one of my favourite things,” Jon Eppell responded.

“People that are going to ignore the law in driving the speed of the road are going to ignore the signs just as easily.”

He added that Canadian standards for crosswalk signs reserve the yellow ones primarily for school zones.

“If we put them everywhere, people will not recognize that ‘hey, this one’s different, this one’s special,'” he said. “So, we don’t want to make them all yellow.”

Mt. A. crosswalk

When discussion turned to the Mt. A. crosswalk on Main Street where traffic sometimes backs up as students cross between the main campus and the dining hall and residences, Jon Eppell said the ideal solution would be to install a red/green traffic light for motorists and a walk/stop signal for pedestrians.

“Not an inexpensive solution, we have had discussions with Mt. A.,” he said, adding that so far, the university hasn’t been willing to contribute financially.

Later, when Percy Best suggested an overhead pedestrian walkway, Eppell said he had also raised that idea with Mt. A., but once again, the university indicated it didn’t have money to spend on it.

Councillor Bruce Phinney mentioned a comprehensive 2006 study overseen by former Mt. A. Professor Mike Fox.

Among other things, that study recommended a crossing guard, but, as Phinney pointed out, the university wasn’t willing to pay for that either.

Posted in Mount Allison University, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Brother, can you spare a dime? New bylaw would make that question illegal in Tantramar

Posted on May 28, 2024 by brucewark

Reverend Lloyd Bruce, minister at Sackville United Church. Photo: Sackville United Church

Sackville United Church Minister Lloyd Bruce is questioning why Tantramar needs  to prohibit loitering and begging in public places.

“Has there been any reason to date to suggest why we need such a bylaw?” Bruce asked during a telephone interview today with Warktimes.

He added that the one presented to town council on Monday is vague and poorly written.

“What constitutes loitering? We don’t have a definition and my observation is that this bylaw goes against the very nature of trying to create and nurture and sustain a compassionate community.”

He was referring to proposed Tantramar Bylaw No. 2024-15 that would impose fines of $140 to $640 on anyone deemed to be loitering, which the bylaw defines as “to remain in or hang around an area for no obvious purpose.”

The bylaw, brought forward by Town Clerk Donna Beal, would impose the same range of fines on anyone who begs for money, food or charitable help in any public place or who goes door-to-door seeking such support.

Beal said the new bylaw would replace ones already in effect in Sackville and Dorchester that were required under the old provincial municipalities act.

The current Sackville bylaw enacted in 2007 specifically exempts sidewalk musicians, but the new one makes no mention of them.

Beal added that the new local governance act leaves it up to municipalities whether they wish to enact such a bylaw which anti-poverty campaigners have long criticized as measures that criminalize poverty and homelessness.

During Monday’s council meeting, Treasurer Michael Beal said Sackville has used the anti-loitering provisions to prevent vandals  from hanging around in parks until crowds thin out and they can cause damage.

“How do you guess what the intention is of a group of people sitting in the park?” Lloyd Bruce asks.

“This bylaw is poorly worded and again, it goes against the nature of allowing for compassionate response or even the expression of difficult circumstances,” he adds.

Book sales?

Councillor Allison Butcher seemed puzzled by one section of the new draft bylaw that would appear to  allow anyone to sell any book approved by the provincial cabinet without a licence:

The town clerk explained that the bookselling section was included in the old municipalities act and so far, has not responded to an e-mail request from Warktimes for further clarification.

It appears that the bookselling licence exemption may have related to door-to-door sales of Bibles, encyclopedias, dictionaries and other reference books.

To read the list of provincially approved books in a regulation repealed in 2014, click here.

Meantime, council has referred the new loitering and begging bylaw for first and second readings (approval in principle) to its next regular meeting on June 11.

Would Sackville’s chief loiterer George Stanley be exempt from the new bylaw? Cartoon by CHAT GPT

Posted in Town of Tantramar | Tagged , | 6 Comments

DTI failed to notify Tantramar about closing Hwy 106 and seems to have missed the beaver dam that may have caused the washout

Posted on May 25, 2024 by brucewark

Tantramar CAO Jennifer Borne

Tantramar’s Chief Administrative Officer says the town received no notification on April 1st when the province closed Highway 106, the main route between Sackville and Dorchester.

Jennifer Borne says she expected such notification from the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DTI) because of the need to inform police and fire in case of an emergency on either side of the washed-out highway.

“We were not notified and the information that I was given from their district engineer was to follow them on Twitter,” Borne said during the second in a series of community meetings held today at the Anglican Church Hall in Mount Whatley.

She was responding to a question from Sackville resident James MacDonald who wondered why the town did not inform residents of the road closure until the morning of April 3rd.

Borne suggested there should be “a direct line of communication” in such situations between a municipality and DTI.

She said town managers have now been asked to monitor New Brunswick 511 to stay up to date on road conditions in Tantramar.

‘Extreme disconnect’

Percy Best with his trusty cellphone camera

“There seems to be an extreme disconnect between DTI and the citizens,” said Sackville resident Percy Best.

He spoke of his frustrations trying to persuade the province to clear trees and brush from the sides of roads including the one that runs to Trueman’s Blueberry Farm near Aulac.

“This has gone on for like 20 years of growth,” Best complained.

“It’s extremely dangerous. If a deer jumps out, you’re going to drive into the front of another car or go into the ditch yourself to avoid it,” he said. “DTI seems to be in a no-man’s-land and they do not respond to citizens’ complaints.”

Best contrasted uncleared roadways here with the ones in PEI where, he said, you could play golf on the sides of their roads.

“These days with the mulchers, bushwackers and what have you, it’s a simple job,” he said.

Holding their ‘feet to the fire’

Mayor Andrew Black

“Most of the departments within the government don’t really want to hear from citizens, especially DTI it seems,” said Mayor Andrew Black.

He noted over the last 12-13 years, there’s been a spending shortfall on provincial roads of about $40 million.

“One of the big things is that the government needs to put more money into highway funding across the province.”

He added that some municipalities have managed to get DTI to come up with five-year asset management plans for provincial roads within their boundaries and once those plans are in place, they can hold DTI accountable for carrying them out.

“Some municipalities have had success with that and it holds the department’s feet to the fire, so if there’s some way that we can do that within Tantramar, I think that would benefit all of us greatly,” he said.

Busy beavers

Beaver blockage in big Highway 106 culvert. Photo: Percy Best. Labelling: Sharon Hicks

In the first community meeting in Dorchester on Thursday, Black announced that DTI had agreed to install a temporary bridge so that Highway 106 can be re-opened by early July instead of waiting for road reconstruction to be completed in September.

Percy Best reported at today’s meeting that he had gone out to the site of the highway washout and wearing rubber boots, had crawled inside the big culvert there.

“That four-foot culvert has a 30-inch high beaver dam located halfway through,” he said. “They constructed a dam, the water couldn’t get through,” he added, “and that’s what created the washout.”

Best criticized DTI for failing to clear the culvert.

“So, they’re not even taking a close look at the problem,” he said. “An ounce of prevention is worth, in this case, a tonne of fixing.”

Darlene Hicks-Phinney said that, years ago, when her husband worked for DTI, he talked for days about the discovery of a beaver dam inside that Highway 106 culvert.

“So, it’s the second time for sure that it’s happened,” she said.

“The culvert was fine,” Best said. “It was the beavers that caused the problem, so they should be the ones to go fix it,” he added as everyone laughed.

UPDATE on Monday, May 27/24

Warktimes sent a link to this story to DTI’s communications officer, but so far, has received no comment in response.

However, Tantramar Engineer Jon Eppell told town council on Monday that DTI does not believe that beavers built a dam inside the culvert blocking water flow and causing the highway washout.

“I was talking with the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure district engineer about the culvert on Rte. 106,” Eppell said, “and DTI is of the opinion that in fact, what happened is that the culvert pipe collapsed and the debris got trapped there and got infilled with some silt.

“They don’t believe that it was actually a beaver dam.”

Eppell said the culvert was scheduled to be replaced next year and the design for a new pipe is ready.

He added that DTI is now seeking environment approvals so that a new culvert can be in place this year.

Posted in New Brunswick government, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , | 2 Comments