HRM SEEKS PUBLIC INPUT ON RP+5
The Regional Plan is now 5 years old and undergoing a mandatory review; hence its title RP+5. Consultation with stakeholder groups and the general public is expected to get underway this spring. As information about the consultation is finalized by the Community Design Advisory Committee, it will be posted on the PlanHRM website: www.halifax.ca/planhrm/. PlanHRM is the citizen portal for information on all HRM planning projects and processes, including the RP+5, Review HRMbyDesign Centre Plan, Community Visioning and more. To receive information about upcoming consultation sessions, please e-mail planhrm@halifax.ca. Or follow the RP+5 process via: Twitter @PlanHRM Facebook: facebook.com/PlanHRM E-mail: regplan@halifax.ca or Call: 490-8479 (Message Centre) or by regular Mail: HRM, Regional Planning office, 2nd Floor, 40 Alderney Drive, PO Box 1749, Halifax, NS B3J 3A5
SHORE & VALLEY SPORTS SUMMIT
Canadian Sport for Life (CS4L) is a movement to improve the quality of sport and physical activity for everyone, from infancy through all phases of adulthood. See www.canadiansportforlife.ca
for more details. One of CS4L programs is “Active for Life” (A4L). It is the place where parents go to learn about activities for kids. Go to https://activeforlife.ca/. Physical education leads to physical literacy, which is critical for child development. Physical literacy also gives active kids the best chance to someday compete in high-performance sports. Kids’ activities are organized by age and gender, so parents can find fun and engaging ways of making sure their children get the recommended daily amount of physical activity. Activities for toddlers are aimed at the development of fundamental movement skills, while activities for children build on the fundamentals to establish more complex sport skills that can be used to play any number of sports and activities. Exercises for kids enhance their physical development. In the early stages of child growth, early childhood development is dependent on appropriate exercises for children. SportNS and local volunteers are organizing an Eastern Shore – Musquodoboit Valley Sports Summit on Saturday, May 25th at the Eastern Shore Community Centre & Rink in Musquodoboit Harbour. It will be a family sport festival whereby adults, youth and parents with kids of any age can come by and try out a host of sports and activities. Local minor sports and organizations that promote healthy life-style activities will have information booths and demonstrations to educate, encourage, engage and hopefully enlist your participation. Come by and have some good ole healthy fun! Remember that active kids play is good for kids health. If you or an organization would like to be a part of this exciting event, please contact Andrew Ling at SportNS Community Sport Development Coordinator – Central Region (HRM) 14th Floor Barrington Tower – 1894 Barrington Street, Halifax, NS, B3J 2R8. Phone: 722-1459 or E-mail: aling@sportnovascotia.ca.
BIKE WEEK 2013 : MAY 31st – JUNE 9th
Bike Week aims to celebrate, educate and increase participation in all types of cycling throughout the region. It’s an exciting, community driven event encouraging people of all ages and abilities to get outside and be more active. There will be plenty of events organized by local individuals and groups to encourage bicycling for sport, recreation, and active transportation. For more details and event programs about HRM Bike Week, please go to: www.halifax.ca/bikeweek/index.html
and for more information about safe cycling throughout our municipality: www.halifax.ca/cycling/index.. New legislation has been passed that requires motorists to yield to cyclists. The NS Motor Vehicle Act was amended by adding rules respecting bike lanes and now requires motorists to leave one metre of space between a vehicle and a bicycle in order to pass by safely.
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS WEEK
Emergency Preparedness (EP) Week is May 5th – 11th. Everyone should be prepared and able to take care of themselves for a 72 hour period from any potential harm caused by a significant weather event or incident. Our district is very fortunate to have two Joint Emergency Management (JEM) Teams: Eastern Shore JEM (Cole Harbour to Ship Harbour) and Sheet Harbour JEM (East Ship Harbour to Ecum Secum). For more details about them, please go to: www.halifax.ca/EMO/jems.html. On Saturday May 4th, 10 AM – 1 PM, the seventh annual ‘JEM Jamboree’ will be at the Porters Lake Atlantic Superstore parking lot. Their plan is to continue promoting its efforts in emergency preparedness, training & community readiness. Our JEM Teams are looking for volunteers. Here are more web-sites about EP information:
HRM OPEN DATA CATALOGUE
Accessing popular municipal information has become easier as HRM launched its open data catalogue, as part of a pilot project to release readily available, high quality data sets for public viewing, and use in the development of web and mobile based applications. The launch of this free, on-line data catalogue represents the first step in an ongoing effort by Regional Council to make city government more open and accessible to residents. Seventeen data sets will be released during this phase of the pilot project including information on HRM parks, buildings, garbage and recycling collection zones, civic addresses, and transit routes and schedules. These data sets were selected because they were complete and accurate, with good data management practices already in place, were free of personal and confidential information, and have been previously requested. This will be an opportunity to engage citizens, developers, academia and industry in the development of innovative and creative applications using the initial data sets during an upcoming open data contest. The HRM’s open data contest will run from July to November. Residents, application developers and post-secondary students will be encouraged to submit applications, or ideas for applications, using one or more of HRM’s free data sets. More details on the contest will be available over the next few months in advance of the contest launch in July. Following an evaluation of the initial data release and results of the application contest, HRM staff will bring forward a report to Regional Council with recommendations on how to move forward on expanding HRM’s open data program. To view the new on-line open data catalogue visit www.halifax.ca/opendata
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SWIMMING POOL & FENCING RULES
Residents putting in either an above ground or in-ground swimming pool on their property are required to obtain a permit. To obtain a permit, details of locating the swimming pool, fencing and security must be identified. The permit fee to install a pool is based on $5.50 per $1,000 of the estimated value of the project with a minimum $25 fee. A pool is defined in HRM By-law S-700: www.halifax.ca/legislation/Bylaws/HRM/bls700.pdf as an artificial body of water outside a building, excluding ponds, having more than 100 square feet of surface area that is designed or intended to be used for swimming purposes and contains or is capable of containing a water depth of more than 24 inches. This by-law applies to all swimming pools which have a diameter of 11 feet or more and are capable of containing water to a depth of 2 feet or more. All swimming pools shall be completely enclosed with a 5 foot high fence. That fencing shall be constructed in such a way that it does not facilitate climbing. Therefore having no openings between its rails greater than 4 inches. Security requires gates that are self-closing and self-latching. For more information, go to: www.halifax.ca/planning/documents/Pools.pdf
NEW FEES ON NS BURNING PERMITS
Open-Air burning season has begun back on April 15th, but since my last newsletter, the Provincial Government has raised the fees to acquire a NS burning permit. As of April 1st, domestic burning permits will now cost $6.05 and Industrial permits will cost $60.50. However; free Municipal Burning Permits are still required year round and can be obtained from various HRM Fire Stations in District 2. For more information, please go to this web-site: www.halifax.ca/fireprevention/OpenAirBurning.html. Be sure to follow all safety instructions and rules of conduct as outlined on those permits.
CHB – COMMUNITY HEATH FUNDING
The Community Health Boards (CHB’s) that serve the District 2 area have funding available for local groups and organizations working to improve the health and well being of its citizenry. The Southeastern CHB serves the communities Cole Harbour, Westphal, Lake Loon, Cherry Brook, Lake Major, East Preston, North Preston, Lawrencetown, and Mineville. Application deadline for proposals is Monday, May 6th. Before applying for funding, all applicants are asked to contact their CHB Coordinator to discuss their project idea and receive an application form. Please contact Anna Jacobs for the Southeastern CHB at 460-6888 or anna.jacobs@cdha.nshealth.ca
or SECHB link: www.cdha.nshealth.ca/communityHealth/southeastern
PROPOSED DITCH TAX CLARIFIED
Halifax Water (HW) wants to clarify its proposed stormwater charge related to the ditch component of the stormwater management system. The stormwater system is comprised of a combination pipes, manholes, ditches, curbs, culverts, stormwater holding tanks, ponds, dams, catch basins or roadside ditches. HW provides water, wastewater and stormwater service to customers within a defined Metro Central service core boundary. Within this defined boundary customers may receive all three services, or a combination of one or more of these services. Some HW customers have a ditch that is part of the stormwater system, but are not a piped water or wastewater customer. HW spends approximately $1.74 Million annually to operate and maintain the stormwater ditch system and must recover these costs in accordance with the Public Utilities Act. HW through a rate application filed with the NSUARB January 9th, 2013 is proposing to separate the Stormwater charge from the Wastewater charge so that it is more transparent and easy to understand, and reflective of the user-pay principle. For more information on the rate application, please visit www.halifaxwater.ca . Residents outside this service boundary receive services by NS Dept of Transportation & Infrastructure Renewal are not subject to these charges. The only areas in District 2 to be affected by this change will be North Preston & Little Salmon River in Westphal.
CURBSIDE GIVEAWAY: JUNE 8th & 9th
Residents are encourage to participate in HRM`s Curbside Give Away Weekend – June 8th & 9th. Help discover the “Hidden Treasures” in your neighbourhood and our communities. HRM is looking for your ideas on how to make this event even better! Please take a short survey at www.halifax.ca/surveys/index.html
and your name will be entered into a draw for HRM prize packs, backyard composters and kitchen mini-bins. Or if you prefer to send comments by e-mail, drop a line at: WasteLess@Halifax.ca
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