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BEAVER BANK:<\/strong> Lisa Blackburn said 2022 was a challenging year for regional council, and 2023 looks to be as challenging for councillors with HRM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2022, topics such as policing budgets, housing, and homelessness kept being the main focal topics that residents kept in front of regional councillors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s great we now have a shelter in Sackville. It\u2019s great the infrastructure is there, it\u2019s sad that we need it,\u201d said Blackburn. \u201cIt\u2019s good to know community has stepped up. Kudos to Beacon House and Sackville Warming Centre for stepping up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Blackburn, the boundary review was also a huge topic. That boundary review recommended putting Beaver Bank in with Sackville, a decision that she agrees with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt makes sense on a lot of levels,\u201d she said. “I didn\u2019t hear a lot of concerns about being connected with Lower Sackville. It\u2019s always been our center of commerce and recreation anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s now in the hands of the NSUARB, where they will make the final decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”34″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate group=”6″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n The review has left Blackburn with a decision to make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have some soul searching to do,\u201d she said. \u201cDo I run again and if so where. Those decisions will be made within the next six months or so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She noted her family is dealing with some health issues so working through that and looking to see what that looks like in next six months to a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another big plus from 2022 for Beaver Bank is getting the tracks at Windgate and Beaver Bank road paved over finally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe need traffic lights there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”126″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”31″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among top three 3 items for Blackburn includes development pressures coming to the community. For the first time, apartment buildings are being proposed for Beaver Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s funny as I thought there might be a lot of residents concerned about that,\u201d she said, \u201cbut it\u2019s been the exact opposite. People have been calling me for contact info for the builders because they want in those buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDevelopment in the right place at the right time is always good, and certainly the buildings going in on Beaver Bank Road are the right location. That\u2019s where you want to see high density buildings on main roads where there are busses, stores, etc.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She\u2019s also looking forward to having more pedestrian safety measures put in place on Beaver Bank Road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have five crosswalks going in on Beaver Bank Road this year,\u201d said Blackburn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two of those will be near Harold T. Barrett Junior High; one up by Brown Hall; and one down by Majestic and Beaver Bank Road. There is one other as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The crosswalks will be the ones with the flashing beacon\u2014like the ones in Fall River by the Snow Centre and by Coach Avenue on Hwy 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”71″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”192″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Community meetings are also happening regarding developments in subdivisions in the community, so those will be things she has as a top topic for her. That includes the apartment building on Beaver Bank Road before Windgate (which NWCC rejected on Jan. 16); Carriagewood subdivision development, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blackburn said there will be enhancements to the ball field area where trails will be put in. She credited Victor Cobb and the Beaver Bank Awareness Association for their hard work on this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe want to make it a destination in the community and also give the folks who watch ball games something to do while they wait,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She praised Lyle Mailman for his work in getting a Christmas Parade of Lights to happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBig shout out to Lyle for getting the parade happening,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was great to have that back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”84″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”123″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blackburn also got put into an honorary role. She has been named an Honorary Lt. Colonel of the Canadian Army\u2019s Third Intelligence company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a three-year appointment. She was nominated by HRM\u2019s EMO lead Erica Fleck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to getting to know the Canadian military more through that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She got word right before Christmas that she was receiving the appointment. Among others who have had similar roles include Karen Furneaux and Peter Mansbridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s pretty mind blowing and humbling to have my name on the list,\u201d said Blackburn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”92″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate group=”7″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now looking at HRM as a whole, Blackburn said all the councillors are just hoping to get through the budget discussions and debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s not going to be easy,\u201d she said. \u2018We already sent staff back with direction to bring it down to a four per cent tax increase from eight. It\u2019s still way below inflation. Folks have to realize we\u2019re subject to the same inflationary pressures that everybody else.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re feeling that pinch too. There\u2019s going to be some tough talk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blackburn is going to do be doing some deep dives as a member of the Board of Police Commissioners looking at HRP and RCMP budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re still forming our sub committee on the Defund the police report,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got the 36 recommendations from that report that Dr El Jones prepared for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s going to take time. We alone, at HRM, can\u2019t fix it. It takes the province as well, and some of the recommendations involve the federal government too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”148″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”127″]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [adrotate banner=”105″][adrotate banner=”169″] BEAVER BANK: Lisa Blackburn said 2022 was a challenging year for regional council, and 2023 looks to be as challenging for councillors with HRM. In 2022, topics such as policing budgets, housing, and homelessness kept being the main focal topics that residents kept in front of regional councillors. \u201cIt\u2019s great we now […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,957],"tags":[10,4535,121,51,1042,1191,14,378,25],"class_list":["post-33967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-news","tag-beaver-bank","tag-budget-2023","tag-hrm","tag-hrp","tag-lisa-blackburn","tag-policing","tag-rcmp","tag-regional-council","tag-sackville"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\u201cI never would have thought something so small would have taken such a long time and made such a huge difference in peoples lives,\u201d she said. “Step two is working with CN and National Transportation Safety Board to get rid of the infrastructure that\u2019s there.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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