{"id":61335,"date":"2026-01-06T19:13:29","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T23:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaker.ca\/?p=61335"},"modified":"2026-01-06T19:13:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T23:13:29","slug":"year-in-review-turf-field-crosswalk-flood-mitigation-among-accomplishment-highlights-for-deagle-gammon-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/?p=61335","title":{"rendered":"Year in Review: Turf Field, Crosswalk, flood mitigation among accomplishment highlights for Deagle Gammon in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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FALL RIVER:<\/strong> Councillor Cathy Deagle Gammon said 2025 was a year of both visible accomplishments and ongoing work across Waverley\u2013Fall River\u2013Musquodoboit Valley, highlighting recreation, safety, infrastructure, and long-term planning during her Year in Review interview with The Laker News<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the highlights she pointed to was the completion of the artificial turf field at Lockview High in Fall River, a project she said was years in the making and deeply meaningful to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeeing the Fall River turf field a reality and seeing the youth playing a football game and practicing\u2026 that was probably one of the most special days for me in 2025,\u201d Deagle Gammon said, noting it was the very first motion she brought forward when she joined council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEspecially seeing the little kids.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She credited the project\u2019s success to collaboration between community volunteers and all levels of government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was true collaboration of all orders of government that made it work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBacked by that spirit of \u2018we can do this\u2019 from the volunteer committee \u2014 that was a dream team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Deagle Gammon also highlighted smaller but important safety improvements, including the installation of a long-requested crosswalk at McPherson and Lockview roads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo finally see the crosswalk at McPherson and Lockview made me really happy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe community had asked for a crosswalk for years, and it just didn\u2019t feel safe at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said it was also nice to see the new playground built in Middle Musquodoboit with the water feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI see kids running around in the water and on the swings and the accessibility features that are in that playground,\u201d said Deagle Gammon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought this is very nice. It was also one of the things I was happy to see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flood mitigation along Highway 2 was another major announcement in 2025, following federal funding approval to address three flood-prone sections of the roadway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe made the application after the flood in 2023,\u201d Deagle Gammon said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust in the last couple of weeks, the federal government announced that they were going to contribute to that funding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She cautioned residents that while funding is now in place, the work will take time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt will still be a couple of years before we see that actually all built out the way that it needs to be,\u201d she said, stressing the importance of managing expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ongoing concerns raised by residents throughout the year included transit, water expansion, and gravel roads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deagle Gammon said transit service into Fall River and surrounding communities remains a priority, though it comes with operational challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat bus, the 320, is an express bus to the airport,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAny change to that, you want to make sure it doesn\u2019t in any way impede the timing of that bus staying an express bus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water access was another recurring issue, particularly in areas experiencing dry wells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWater has been the theme of 2025,\u201d Deagle Gammon said, noting that water expansion decisions rest with HRM and depend heavily on funding partnerships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFinding the funding is a huge issue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also acknowledged frustration around gravel roads, saying she pushed council to rethink how roads are prioritized for paving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat I was able to do was bring forward a motion to investigate what is the criteria for paving gravel roads,\u201d she said, adding that the new criteria moved some roads significantly higher on the priority list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever, we still need to get money in the fund.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Looking ahead, Deagle Gammon said the 2026 budget process will be challenging as council balances service demands with pressure to limit tax increases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cNo easy decisions ahead of us in this budget at all,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverybody wants no tax increase, but more services.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Despite the challenges, Deagle Gammon said the most rewarding part of her role continues to be helping residents navigate municipal systems and access services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe satisfaction that you get from helping a resident either navigate the system, find an answer, get connected to a service or a support,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what makes this job worthwhile.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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FALL RIVER: Councillor Cathy Deagle Gammon said 2025 was a year of both visible accomplishments and ongoing work across Waverley\u2013Fall River\u2013Musquodoboit Valley, highlighting recreation, safety, infrastructure, and long-term planning during her Year in Review interview with The Laker News. One of the highlights she pointed to was the completion of the artificial turf field at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53802,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,957],"tags":[1610,233,2,1147,1043,10032,10033,16],"class_list":["post-61335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-news","tag-cathy-deagle-gammon-2","tag-community","tag-fall-river","tag-middle-musquodoboit","tag-musquodoboit-valley","tag-property-taxes","tag-tax-increaser","tag-waverley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61335","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=61335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61335\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/53802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}