[Image-1] Help may soon be on the way for businesses and residents plagued by downtown construction. On Tuesday city council asked for staff to develop several new construction mitigation guidelines to ease the downtown development burdens being placed on neighbours. Among other provisions, the new regulations could include improved enforcement provisions and a standardized notification […]
City Council
Posted inNews + Opinion
All of Matt Whitman’s strangest tweets (since January)
[Image-1] Matt Whitman found himself in a far more serious form of Twitter jail this week, and will now have to apologize for the way he’s been tweeting. The Hammonds Plains–St. Margarets councillor met behind closed doors with his fellow councillors for over three hours to discuss two letters of complaint submitted to the city […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
New study finds HRM still lagging behind in public transparency
A report released today from the Right to Know Coalition of Nova Scotia finds there’s a lot of ground HRM has left to cover in terms of public transparency. “Without robust transparency, it is impossible for the public to monitor how their tax dollars are being spent,” said the Coalition in a statement. “Our research […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
City council throws some shade at Nova Scotia’s fiscal health
[Image-1] The municipality’s strong financial health prompted Regional Council on Wednesday morning to consider $10 million for a new strategic infrastructure reserve to finance an additional $75 million in debt. “The economy is generally good on a go-forward basis,” fiscal and tax policy manager Bruce Fisher told council, noting that HRM’s debt is down “dramatically” […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Everything inside city hall’s 186 pages of donair emails
[Image-1] Last fall the world held its breath as Halifax debated making the humble donair our municipality’s official food. Between the initial reluctant request for a staff report from councillor Linda Mosher, to the final declaration by mayor Mike Savage, there was an ocean of angry comments and national coverage wondering why Halifax would spend […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
City councillor wants new flyer delivery regulations in HRM
[Image-1] “The system now is broken,” says Matt Whitman, about flyer delivery in the municipality. The Hammonds Plains-St. Margarets councillor is looking to regulate the city’s flyer delivery rules; changing the current system from opt-out to opt-in. Whitman will be asking for a staff report on options at HRM’s next Regional Council meeting. “I think […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Are HRM’s rural residents getting the short shrift?
Twenty-one percent of HRM’s population lives spread out over 80 percent of the municipality. The rural portions of HRM are huge, low-density areas, and often overlooked when talking about city services. That’s one reason why the Community Planning and Economic Development committee wants to know if the people living in these far-flung regions are […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Here’s what the renovated Khyber might look like
[Image-1] Plans were unveiled tonights at a public meeting held by the Friends of the Khyber and the 1588 Barrington Building Preservation Society to save Halifax’s beloved downtown arts incubator. The not-for-profit consortium has been working with community consultants and architects over the last year on the plans, which include a new accessible elevator, a […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
7 reasons fire chief Doug Trussler should leave Halifax
[Image-1] On Tuesday Halifax Regional Council debated controversial fire staffing options in front of an audience packed with reporters and firefighters. In recent weeks, many have come forward in opposition to Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency’s proposal (among other changes) to put volunteers in Dartmouth’s King Street station on nights and weekends. Bowing to that […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
This city deserves better fire service
[Image-1] As this new year gets underway, the citizens of Halifax are being called to action to voice their pleasure (or displeasure, depending on their perspective) concerning the fire service in this city. The battle cry in this fight is being led by the men and women of the Halifax Professional Firefighters, who unfortunately have […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Just how busy are the King Street station firefighters?
[Image-1] The proposal from Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency chief Doug Trussler to staff volunteers at the King Street fire station on nights and weekends has not gone without criticism. Downtown Dartmouth residents (among others in HRM) are strongly opposed to changes that they say will leave the dense urban centre vulnerable. Trussler and HRFE […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Everything residents are calling 311 to complain about
[Image-1] SNOW Just how bad was last winter’s snow-clearing? Bad enough that 15 percent of all calls to 311 were requests for plowing, salting and sanding roads. That’s by far the largest segment of the roughly 95,000 calls 311‘s call centre received from HRM residents from January through to August last year. Residents also […]
