Stead to reoffer in municipal election

BY WENDY ELLIOTT

welliott@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

Wolfville Mayor Bob Stead is going to go after a third term in office.

"I have decided to let my name stand for re-election in October," he said last week after debating whether to run for several months.

Assessment has been the focus of some concern among ratepayers lately. In the past 11 years, Stead says, there have been two occasions when the town brought in property evaluation experts when "there were obvious issues that needed to be addressed."

Stead does not understand the stance of some property owners who object to the market-driven system in place now.

"Of course, it is capped by two years so there are delays in realizing property values. I'm not sure I know what will satisfy some people."

The mayor says he wonders how the town will be able to attract volunteers to its boards and committees "if there is continued negativity. The challenge is to recognize that each person has one opinion, especially if one person presents so much stuff it would be a full-time job to respond. Those who come to our table represent 4,000 people. So one opinion is just that and doesn't always lead to a change in major policy."

The reaction of several hundred ratepayers against proposed changes to the draft municipal planning strategy led to a vacuum, Stead says. "There were a number of people whose opinions were not constructive. A lot of those involved felt they beat a lot of people, so my question is how do you repair the fabric of the community? This has never happened before."

Erosion and flooding also on his mind

There were a number of complaints recently about erosion and flooding on Maple Ave. and Stead says the town has addressed the problems partially, but more remediation will be necessary. "We'll need cooperation. Water runs downhill. I know I have the most sophisticated sump pump system in town."

According to the mayor, a drainage system has to be worked out for the street in a comprehensive way. He says when a developer uphill busted a bank away, the soil washed down from the east side. Stead added that the town was more successful in laying horizontal piping under the municipal compost facility on the west side.

As far as the Greenwich land annexation issue is concerned, Stead says no date has even been set for a preliminary meeting between him and Warden Fred Whalen. "We're looking at an exploratory meeting to determine what bent the county has." A good deal of study will be required before town council takes any kind of a stance, he added.

The mayor suggests that recent controversy has engaged the citizenry. "They're very active now and before they were kind of sleepy and lazy. We want them the active way. We've got some big issues to deal with, like transit and the school's survival. I'm really concerned."

Ratepayer involvement kept the budget lean this spring. Stead notes, "in an election year you can't raise taxes, but costs are increasing when you have multi-year agreements. The cost of fuel has doubled.

“I'm embarrassed that we had to trim anything in the grants program. I think grants to cultural groups and the Alliance of Kings Artists should be enhanced. When we go for the Cultural Capitals funding, we have to show strong support. Sackville (N.B.) has it this year and they got close to half a million dollars in funding. My god, what we could do with that would be exciting."

Stead says there will be a public hearing Monday, July 28 to look at the final draft of the MPS. It gets underway at 7:30 p.m. in town council chambers.