Trick is to balance room and resources

(From The Advertiser)



So traffic’s up, building material sales are up, roadwork proceeds. School enrollment is down, demands on health services are growing, the wait continues for nursing home space, businesses are expanding their operations base, and property crime is just as prevalent.

We’re facing two sides of a coin living in Kings County, with each related to growth.

On the (heads) up side, Kings County building stats show monthly increases, annual increases and certainly decade-over-decade increases. To date in 2006, building permit values are up about $10 million from this time last year, from $36,786,404 to $46,770,043. Permit values in September 2006 - $7,223,422 - were the highest, by month, in at least seven years. When you look at the actual list, there are retail structures going up worth $1.5 million, single-family homes - on average - worth $165,000, numerous apartment, duplex and subdivision developments.

All that building means something: revenue for suppliers and future revenue for providers of necessities - food, gas, lawn and garden, furniture, and so on. With it, too, comes a need for public service improvements, from roadwork to transit to Internet access and more.

On the down side of the growth coin, we see big problems ahead. Look at the residential growth. Berwick councillors a few years ago questioned Kings Community Economic Development Agency’s “Move to Kings� campaign, aimed at attracting retired folk. Their concern? A strain on resources and infrastructure, with not as large an economic gain for the effort as attracting a young family, small business operators or a larger business.

Along with retired folk, there are many coming down the widened highway from Metro for that suburban/rural lifestyle. You can imagine these higher income, don’t-mind-the-commute newcomers are predominantly behind the big-ticket builds on the county permit lists.

This influx is changing the face of Kings County: houses tucked in country settings, New Minas traffic, a vibrant arts and alternative scene in the Wolfville area. Growth is good, but we’re feeling the pain.

Recently, EFR Disposal decided to move its Kings County business to Middleton, even though it serves this county, its staff is here, and even though it began here two decades ago. In today’s Kings, there’s no room for their waste-hauling trucks and depot.

Zoning and public acceptance of industry - and agriculture and natural resource operations - have become so restrictive here the original economic bricks, like old neighbourhoods and their inhabitants, are being gentrified.

Valley schools are seeing population changes right now, with lower-than anticipated enrollment numbers this fall. They had planned to be down by about 150 students; instead, it’s more than double - 353 students. That has an impact on staff hires, class ratios, program funding and facility operations.

Health care needs help, from volunteers to deliver meals to at-home seniors, to more beds for nursing homes, to dying-with-dignity palliative care options. Collection clinics at three Kings centres are busy every day, doctors are at their max - and over - with patient files, and wait times are an issue for simple to lifesaving procedures.

We need to adjust our attitude and ability. Attitude, in that we enjoy a good place to live and do business, as evidenced by growth. Ability, in that we can meet present and future demands. The balance is building a Kings County with room and resources for all.