Hope for a Yarmouth Ferry?

NS: Hope still remains for ferry service in 2011
By Tina Comeau, Transcontinental Media

Source: The Vanguard, May 20, 2010

[YARMOUTH, NS] — Town councillors were told on Tuesday that there has been a flurry of activity concerning the ferry terminal in Yarmouth and the port manager says this area has a viable shot of seeing a ferry operation in place for 2011.

During a presentation to the town’s committee of the whole meeting, Dave Whiting said seven proponents have expressed interest in a ferry operation. Four of them he described as very viable and two, he said, are existing operations.

“I’m optimistic at this point that if we can get over this quickly,” Whiting said — “this” referring to gaining control of the terminal facility — “we will have a lot of interest. If it takes a little longer to get over the terminal issue, we will still have a viable shot at an operation for 2011 because there are already existing operations and you don’t have to worry about sourcing investors, setting up operations.”


Ferry terminal in Yarmouth — Vanguard photo

Whiting, who was receiving phone calls about the terminal facility as he sat at the town hall awaiting his opportunity to speak to councillors, said Transport Canada regional staff in Ottawa, MP Greg Kerr and other federal bureaucrats are all working towards the same goal: “A method so that we can control the terminal operation so that we can proceed for a request for proposals for a service.”

Whiting mentioned, as he has in earlier conversations about the terminal, that there is no process already in place to follow.

But to be able to build a business plan to move forward with a ferry service, he said it’s important to have control of the terminal. An operator has to know what the conditions of docking are going to be, what the cost is going to be. Without that information you can’t put forward a business plan he said.

“Both the province and the feds have asked for a business plan for at least the next five years,” said Whiting.

Another issue that will have to be addressed, said Whiting, is the fact that there hasn’t been a proper engineering investigation of the facility for about 12 years. Asked to comment on rumours of air quality concerns, Whiting said to his knowledge there’s been no testing of that either.

“We’ve proposed to Transport Canada that a proper engineering study be done,” he said, telling councillors that if they had heard rumours about the facility being condemned, none of these rumours are true.

MacKenzie Security and its stevedores are maintaining and keeping the facility “up to par” Whiting said, so that when a ferry operation is ready to go it can hit the ground running.

As for who controls the terminal facilities on the U.S. side, Whiting said the terminal in Bar Harbor is controlled by Marine Atlantic and the one in Portland is owned by the city.

Whiting doesn’t foresee these arrangements causing any problems in Yarmouth, although he did note that with mayoralty elections happening in Portland it does delay the opportunity to talk to the city about potential ferry service.

On at Council

Council AgendaMeeting DateMay 25, 2010Meeting LocationMunicipal Council ChambersCall to OrderWarden Jim ThurberPause to Seek GuidanceWarden Jim ThurberReading of Mission StatementWarden Jim ThurberDocumentsSubject AreaApproval of the AgendaAdditions/DeletionsCouncilStaffSpecial PresentationsPresentations& HearingsTinna Bonner, Canada Post Communications Officer, Rural Mail Safety ReviewMinutesApproval/AmendmentsApril 26, 2010
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Council AgendaBusinessArising from Minutes1.2.Deputy Warden MacAlpineCouncillor GregoryCouncillor AmeroCouncillor AdamsWarden ThurberNew Business# 1Department of Energy2010 Renewable Electricity PlanCommunity Projects-CommunityBased feed-in tariff# 22010 Mobius Environmental AwardBusiness of the Year(small) Sissiboo Investments Ltd,Weymouth # 3# 4# 5# 6
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Council AgendaAdministrationCAO ReportMeeting UpdatesProject UpdatesPayables- March, 2010$ 366,570.77Financial ReportNot available until after budget is approvedCorrespondence1.ecoNova Scotia for Clean Air and ClimateChange2009 Annual Report2.NS Tourism, Culture and HeritageExperience Nova Scotia: A Toolkit3.M. Ashraf MahtabCopy of letter to Honourable Sterling Belliveau, Minister of Environment4.5.
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Council AgendaCouncil Committees1.COTWSecond and Final Reading of Amendment to Tax ExemptionBy-law adding Nova Scotia BirdSanctuary& Trustproperty(Peter’s Island)2.By-law &PolicySecond and Final Reading of Amendments to Dog By-lawApproval of Digby Annapolis Regional Airport Safety PolicyApproval of Community Grants for 2010-2011Advisory Committees# 1 REMOManagementPlanningCommitteeWarden Thurber/Deputy Warden MacAlpine# 2 Heritage AdvisoryCommitteeCouncillor AmeroCouncillor Adams# 3 PlanningAdvisoryCommitteeWarden ThurberDeputy Warden MacAlpineCouncillor GregoryOrientation of new members scheduled for May 27th# 4 Police AdvisoryCommitteeCouncillor GregoryCouncillor AmeroCouncillor AdamsNo meeting since last report# 5 Tri CountyHousingAuthorityR Fitzgerald
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Council AgendaRegional/JointCommittees# 1Airport WorkingGroupDeputy Warden MacAlpineCouncillor AdamsDec 16, 2009 Minutes# 2Annapolis DigbyEconomic DevelopmentAgencyWarden Thurber No meeting since last reportMeeting Scheduled May 27th#3Digby Annapolis DevelopmentCorpWarden ThurberCouncillor AmeroDraft Minutes – May 7, 2010Next meeting July 7th#4Digby AreaLearningAssociationCouncillor AdamsFeb 24, 2010 MinutesApr 28, 2010 Minutes#5Digby AreaTourismAssociationCouncillor Gregory#6Digby AreaRecreation CommitteeCouncillor GregoryCouncillor Amero#7Digby HarbourPort AssociationCouncillor Gregory#8FundywebBroadbandDeputy Warden MacAlpine Councillor AmeroNo meeting since last report# 9IndustrialCommissionDeputy WardenMacAlpine Councillor AmeroMeeting scheduled for June 8th# 10 Kings Transit AuthorityCouncillor AmeroMinutes April 21, 2010General Managers Report May2010# 11 Senior SafetyCommitteeCouncillor Adams Councillor GregoryMarch 9thMinutesMay Coordinators Report# 12 Tideview TerraceCouncillor GregoryWarden Thurber & Councillor Adams April 9, 2010 Minutes# 13 Waste CheckDeputy Warden MacAlpineCouncillor GregoryMinutes May 11, 2009 AGMBoard Minutes Mar 8, 2010Staff Reports-May 2010Annual Board Report 09-10# 14 Western Counties Regional LibraryDeputy Warden MacAlpine
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Council AgendaCouncil ReportsWarden ThurberDeputy WardenMacAlpineCouncillor GregorySource Water Protection Committee Minutes for March andAprilCouncillorAmeroCouncillor AdamsNotice of MotionIn CameraAdjournment

Kids Sing on Digby Neck

Digby Neck students get vocal for Music Monday
Music
Published on May 19th, 2010
Published on May 19th, 2010
Leanne Delong/Digby The nationally celebrated Music Monday came early this year for students at Digby Neck Consolidated School, as it was held April 30.

Topics : Ticketmaster Canada.The school , Canada
May 3 marks the sixth annual Music Monday for elementary schools across Canada who unite in song. This year’s song was ‘Sing, Sing’ by Canadian artist Serena Ryder.

Students at Digby Neck Consolidated kicked off their Music Monday by singing O Canada.

Music teacher Julia Woodman explained to students there are 10 schools participating in the event that have a chance to win a $2,500 grant through Music Monday’s new partnership with Ticketmaster Canada.



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The school’s grades primary to 2 classes sang and played on kazoos, while students in grades 3 and 4 students performed on their recorders.

Grades’ 5 and 6 performed with their ukuleles before the finale when all the students up on stage to sing ‘Sing, Sing’.