Town staff get lots of questions every day about local government and Kentville! Here are some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) that might help YOU!
Why is the Town looking at acquiring land from Mr. Ron Cousins, along the proposed path of the Donald Hiltz Connector Road, and has the Town considered other options? The Donald Hiltz Connector Road (DHC) is a critical piece of infrastructure that is key to opening up hundreds of acres of land for housing and development within the Town of Kentville. The DHC is a main piece of stormwater infrastructure that will act as an interceptor that will direct stormwater to stormwater management areas, significantly lessening the impact of major rain events on existing communities in town. All but a small section of the land required for the DHC was acquired in the 1980s and 1990s. This small section was and is owned by Mr. Ron Cousins. From 1990 to the present, Mr. Cousins resisted any offers by the Town to acquire the land needed to complete the roadway. Recently, with the housing crisis, and storm water concerns, there has been a renewed emphasis on completing the DHC. In recognition of this, the Town was able to secure a federal Infrastructure Canada Investment Program (ICIP) grant for the purpose of installing water, sanitary sewer and storm pipes beneath the road between 2024 and 2026. Road construction will require additional funding and is planned in subsequent years to the currently funded infrastructure phases. Council is aware of the Cousins’ family attachment to the land and this has been the principle driver when exploring all options for the DHC. What is now required to build the DHC is the completion of the path, either through the purchase of 1.1 acres of land from Mr. Cousins or by creating a new path. Once Council has collected the necessary information about the final section of the path, Council must then decide whether to maintain the existing route through Mr. Cousins’ land, or to change the path. As of June 2024, Council has been reviewing and considering all reasonable and financially feasible pathways for the east side of the Donald Hiltz Connector Road. There has been some misinformation in the community regarding the size of the land in question and the impact on storm water management. The total land area required from Mr. Cousins to complete the existing path is approximately 1.1 acres (less than one half the size of an average rural building lot). The DHC remains an important part of the Town’s stormwater management plan which, when constructed, will be a critical part of managing stormwater and how it impacts the downstream areas of the Town.
What are the best ways for me to express my ideas and comments to Council? Council welcomes comments and feedback from residents! You can reach out to the Mayor and individual Councillors using their group email address CouncilandMayor@kentville.ca. You can reach out to each of them using their individual email addresses or phone numbers found on our website. You can drop off a letter or note to Town Hall addressed to them, or send them a note through the mail (354 Main Street, Kentville, B4N1K6)! You can also share ideas at the monthly Council meetings, during the Public Comments section of the meetings. You shouldn’t message them on Facebook or leave a comment for them to reply to on social media.
How can I share concerns about infrastructure around town (potholes, damaged playground equipment, glass on trail, etc)? Kentville has an intake system to help residents share concerns with town staff. Your service request or issue will be sent to the right staff, and they will get back to you when the issue is resolved! You can find the form at www.kentville.ca under Contact, or click here to go to the form!
Where can I learn about the details of Council meetings? Council meetings are usually held on the second and last Mondays of each month, and documents associated with these meetings are available online. You can read them on our website or download them from here https://kentville.ca/town-hall/council-and-committees/minutes-agendas-and-records You can also send a request to the Deputy Clerk (Jennifer West, jwest@kentville.ca, 902-679-2503) that the meeting package or a particular document be printed, and you can pick it up at town hall. All Council meetings are streamed and can be seen on our YouTube channel.
How do I obtain information from the town using a Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIPOP) request? Anyone can request documents from a public entity in Nova Scotia. The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIPOP) section in the Municipal Government Act provides a formal process to obtain access to records under the control of the municipal government, while protecting the privacy of individuals who do not want their personal information made public. If you want to obtain a document from the Town, there is a process that includes filling out a form and being specific about the information you are seeking. Please check out the forms and processes on our website. https://kentville.ca/town-hall/personal-information-privacy
Why can’t I access certain documents through the FOIPOP process? There are specific sections of the Act that exclude some documents from being available to the public. In general, public entities are restricted from sharing documents relating to legal actions, land transactions, and personnel matters, and the FOIPOP process cannot be used to create a document. If the record exists and does not fall into an exempt category, then it should be straightforward to get the document you are looking for. If you are not sure what you are looking for, and hope to find it by using a broad request, you may be charged a fee. The legislation allows staff to calculate the cost, based on staff time, for retrieving large volumes of documents. This fee often encourages applicants to be more specific about the document they are looking for, and staff will help them narrow their scope.
Why is Council not responding to requests for information through social media and correspondence, about the former Robinson property? When the Town is involved in a legal action, there are strict rules about what information about the case can be shared to protect both parties. In most cases, information which is otherwise privileged or excluded from publication cannot be released while a case is in the court system. In the case of the former Robinson property, there is a disagreement between the owner of the property and the Town on the terms of the sale agreement, and the Town is seeking to recover the property from that owner through legal action. While a matter is before the courts, much of the information about the matter would be subject to solicitor-client privilege or otherwise exempt from publication.
Will the court delay on the Robinson case cost the Town more in legal fees? At this time we do not expect there will be any additional costs to the Town until the court date appearance in 2025. Most preparation costs for the court hearing intended for last year have already been expensed and now the parties await the hearing.
Why are residents’ correspondence not being read at Council meetings? To be included in the Council meeting package ("public record") letters must be submitted to staff via email at jwest@kentville.ca by the Wednesday preceding a Council or Council Advisory Committee meeting. Full correspondence will then be included in the Council agenda package, but will not be read at Council meetings unless supported by a majority vote of Council. While all members of Council may discuss correspondence during public Council meetings, the Mayor as the chair will be tasked with responding to letters on behalf of Council. Please note - Emails and letters (digital or printed) submissions will be reviewed by the Mayor, Deputy Clerk and CAO, and if they are deemed to contain inappropriate* content, the author will be contacted and asked to resubmit the revised content. Correspondence dealing with legal issues will not appear on the Council agenda but may be included as part of the in-camera agenda. * Inappropriate content refers to wording that is considered offensive, derogatory or disrespectful.
What are ways that I can engage with the Town to change bylaws, policies or development? Council encourages residents to participate in local government in whatever capacity they can. Council meetings are live streamed and posted on YouTube for viewing, so residents can watch and join the process of changing policies and bylaws. Some applications for development can trigger a change in the Land Use Bylaw, which also has specific processes that must be followed. When a bylaw is changed (“amended”), such as the Land Use Bylaw, there is often a requirement for additional public meetings to review and understand the proposed change. Residents can attend these public information meetings, public participation meetings and public hearings to give feedback about bylaws and some developments.
Why can’t a Councillor change a policy or take action on their own? Although a Councillor or Mayor can listen to and offer support to residents about specific issues, when the issue comes to a Council meeting for discussion it must be approved or rejected democratically. This means that although an elected official can vote one way for a proposal (or “motion”), if the rest of the group votes another way, then the majority rules for that decision. With accurate information supplied by staff, and healthy debate at Council meetings, a Council takes action on issues together as a group and not as individuals, in the best interest of the Town.
Why does Council have to follow policies that are dated? Over time, some policies and bylaws may become difficult to follow because of many different factors. Council may take action to update a bylaw or policy, or to repeal it (stop using it), but until then they must continue to follow them.
What happened to the Cornwallis Street signs? From 2020 to 2024, Council, staff and several committees worked to create a new process for changing the names of streets, parks and other town-owned property (“municipal assets”). The name change from Cornwallis Street to Bridge Street used this new process, and was also an act of reconciliation with Indigenous People because of the controversial actions of the Cornwallis family toward Indigenous People from 1700-1900 and beyond. Many of the signs have disappeared over the past few months while the debate on the subject was active. Cornwallis street signs are currently in storage, awaiting a decision on how to honour the reconciliation work of Council and staff on this issue.
When will my street get salted or plowed? Town staff have a process of salting streets that helps keep residents as safe as possible. As part of that process, staff are scheduled on specific routes and complete plowing and salting based on incoming weather conditions and the ending of snow or freezing rain. For salting and plow routes, priority is given to hospital and school routes and main traffic corridors, with a goal of completing the route within 6 hours of a snowfall or weather event. Staff take pride in helping the community stay safe and usually achieve this timeline, however if staff levels are low due to sickness or vacation, if a vehicle is under repair, or if weather conditions change quickly, the routine for plowing or salting all the town’s roads may take a little longer.