@tikcoast Our first Tik Tok: here’s what happened at regional council today ##halifax ##hrm ##covid ##cycling ##politics ##newspaper ##news ##novascotia ##fyp ##autotune ♬ original sound – tikcoast There was a nothing-but-pleasantries discussion about pedestrians, cycling and what to do about tiny sidewalks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please enjoy our first ever TikTok to learn what […]
Halifax Regional Council
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax Regional Council approves pedway over Summer Street for QEII redevelopment project
Halifax Regional Council met today for its second virtual meeting since COVID-19, and if this story was being written in the “before times,” it’d be dabbled with budget deliberation, likely someone’s meandering thoughts on the morality of supporting developers over renters and certainly, someone standing to say “I don’t have a question, but I […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax regional council’s new rules for sidewalk obstruction hope to curb hassle for pedestrians
Mitigation of development and construction impacts, the rules surrounding shutting down sidewalks and streets for construction, have been updated to protect pedestrians as the importance of new developments continues to grow across HRM. The old guidelines allowed construction sites to temporarily close or use only a portion of the street and area adjacent to the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Provincial staff take a field trip to city hall to explain QEII expansion project
This week Halifax Regional Council heard from the province about the QEII Health Sciences Centre New Generation project—a result of pressure from councillor Waye Mason for more clarity on expansions of the QEII site that could see a large parkade built beside the Museum of Natural History on Summer Street. The need for parking, explained […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
HRM’s budget committee settles on tax rate and extra spending for 2020/21
Halifax Regional Council’s budget committee settled on a tax rate and some extra spending for the 2020/21 year this week. The way the budget process unfolds in Halifax is set up to increase clarity and create more space for filtering out wants versus needs. The result, if given final approval from council, will be a […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Ridesharing companies are getting uber-close to their Halifax debut
Ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft are one step closer to hitting the streets of Halifax now that new regulations for vehicles-for-hire have passed through regional council, but concerns about safety are still on the table. Council passed a motion during Tuesday’s meeting to allow several new changes to HRM by-laws surrounding licensing for both […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Small tax rate increase, more debt to fund all of Halifax’s hopes and dreams for 2020/21
Regional council kicked off the new year with budget talks this week. Councillors heard from Jane Fraser, HRM’s chief financial officer, about how the dollar bills the municipality has, earns, spends and loans are all connected—and a new tax rate. Fraser explained what allows HRM to make money moves: The operating budget (revenues minus expenses—keeping […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Home run! HRM says yes to $20 million for a CFL stadium in the municipality.
D eja vu—is that you? It is. In the fall of 2011 Halifax Regional Council OK’d a possible $20 million contribution to a rumoured $60 million stadium. At that time The Coast reported that the money was contingent on a slew of factors (the factors did not come to fruition, the moulah was never spent, […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax’s accessibility advisory committee’s town hall dominated by talk of inadequate transportation.
A few dozen residents turned up for a Tuesday evening town hall discussion on accessibility in HRM at Cole Harbour Place. The Advisory Committee on Accessibility town hall panel included representatives from Halifax’s winter operations and recreation teams, 311 contact centres and more. Attendees made a point of discussing the state of Halifax’s accessible transit […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax’s apartment buildings are a trash-sorting dumpster fire, residents say
L iving in an apartment building can have its benefits. There’s security, there are facilities and the buildings provide services for tenants. For every residential building with more than six units in HRM, one of those services is garbage collection. “Each apartment building is required to have five bins in the waste room in the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax regional council keeps CFL stadium plans on the table for a little while longer
C ouncillor Sam Austin asked his colleagues this week to consider pulling the plug on the Shannon Park stadium plan from Schooner Sports and Entertainment before council hears back from staff about the proposal—originally requested by council a year ago. Austin’s intent with the motion to rescind was to take what he and other councillors […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
District 11 Councillor Stephen Adams says he won’t be running for council again
With plenty of deep breaths and a few sideways smiles, Stephen Adams made it through his announcement with almost no tears in City Hall Friday morning. Adams, Halifax’s longest-serving councillor, told colleagues and media that this year would be his last in politics. Adams, says he chose to make this announcement now in order to give […]