
Town Hall
Kentville is proud of the transparency with which town business is conducted. Any resident who wants to be up-to-date on town business can easily stay in touch. Whether you need by-law information, council meeting minutes, or want to chat with your councillor, you’ll find all Kentville business information right here.
Over a Century of Kentville Town Hall History
- 1887:The offices for the Town Hall were leased for the rental of seventy-five dollars per year.
- 1896:The town conducted its business in the Chipman Building on Main Street, near the present Town Hall.
- 1946:The town purchased property from the Salvation Army for the purpose of constructing a new Town Hall and Fire Station.
- 1953:The town office took up quarters in the new Town Hall, moving from temporary offices at the Cornwallis Inn.
- 1989: The new Town Hall was joined to the old Maritime Tel & Tel building in a ten-month renovation project.
- 1990: The grand opening of the Town Hall was held, on September 28.
List of Kentville Mayors:
- John King 1887-1888
- J.P. Chipman 1889-1890
- Dr. H.B. Webster 1891-1892
- B.H. Dodge 1893
- J.W. Ryan 1894-1895
- R.S. Masters 1896-1897
- G.F. Rockwell 1898-1899
- WM. Yould 1900-1902
- W.F. Roscoe 1904-1907
- Dr. H.B. Webster 1908-1909
- H.H. Wickwire 1910-1911
- Wm. Yould 1912
- J.W. Ryan 1913-1914
- F.A. Masters 1915
- A.L. Pelton 1916-1917
- J.H. Yould 1918-1919
- W. Saxby Blair 1920
- A.L. Pelton 1921
- A.E.H. Chelsey 1922-1924
- A.L. Pelton 1925-1927
- Raymond Crosby 1928-1931
- G.W. Lyons 1932-1935
- B.W. Roscoe 1936-1945
- Gladys M. Porter 1946-1949
- R.W. Rottler 1950-1953
- Gladys M. Porter 1954-1960
- G.L. Calkin 1961-1963
- H.C. Lindsay 1964-1966
- C.R.G. Lowe 1967
- F.H Ripley 1968-1973
- R. Wendell Phinney 1974-1988
- Dorine P. Taylor 1988-1994
- R. Art Pope 1994-1997
- Gary P. Pearl 1997-2005
- David Corkum 2006-2016
- Sandra Snow 2016-2024
- Andrew Zebian 2024-
Accessibility of Council and CAC meetings at Town Hall:
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The Town of Kentville recognizes that participation in council and committee meetings should be available to all residents.
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Council meetings and CAC meetings are usually held in the Town Hall council chambers, which is considered moderately accessible.
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Physical accessibility of the building is considered to be low to moderately accessible (partially accessible exterior ramp, partially accessible interior ramp, elevator, partially accessible washroom).
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Streaming of our meetings makes them highly accessible to all residents, except for the Public Comments section of the meeting.
The following is the process for changing venue of Council, CAC and committee meetings:
When the elevator in town hall is not available and council chambers is not accessible for a council or committee meeting, staff will make all reasonable efforts to change the venue as follows:
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Committees can use the conference room on the main floor, when available.
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For larger meetings, or council meetings, staff can try to move to an alternate venue which is moderately accessible:
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Main Street Station Ballroom, Kentville Lower Recreation Centre, or Kings County Municipal Building.
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If one of these venues are available, we will use our own technology in order to facilitate audio, video and recording or streaming (if possible). For the Kings County building, we will use existing technology.
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If these venues are not available, staff will reach out to the Kentville Fire Hall for rental of their space.
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If the Fire Hall is available, staff will reach out to local and regional IT companies who specialize in audio video and live streaming.
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Once a venue and technology is secured, all information will be shared with Council, staff and the public regarding the change of venue.
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If these steps do not secure an alternate location, the meeting will be held virtually through Zoom or Teams, with opportunity for resident participation during Public Comments.
Note: The Public Comments section of a council meeting is only one way to bring issues forward to Council. There is also Emails to Council and staff, Correspondence to Council for the public record, personal calls/emails/meetings to Council and staff.
Note: Council and staff have been in the process of assessing the building and improving accessibility since 2022, and have a goal of reaching the provincial deadline of being fully (or very) accessible by 2030.