DIGBY, N.S. - The Digby Industrial Park is on the radar of the Municipality of Digby heading into the New Year.
Municipality of Digby CAO Linda Fraser said the industrial park file falls under council’s Corporate NOW Priorities, with a timeline of action in the coming weeks.
“What we’re trying to do is develop a plan on how best to market the industrial park,” she said.
The Town of Digby and Municipality of Digby own the industrial park jointly. The site is approximately 22 acres and is located south of Highway 217.
Fraser said the park is not fully occupied and there is plenty of potential for growth. Roughly 10 acres of land are available and the Municipality wants to fill that gap.
“The part of the park that we’re looking at is a large area that right now is not in service and not even cleared,” said Fraser. “So we’re looking at how best to lay out the park.”
Streets featuring municipal services such as sanitary sewer and water distribution system surround the unused land. There are also three wastewater pumping stations near the industrial park on Shreve Street, Highway 217, and at the intersection of Industrial Drive/Highway 217.
Fraser said the question is what is the wisest investment option to help the park in its development.
“Do we invest hundreds of thousands of dollars to build roads and providing the infrastructure hoping that they will come? Or, do we wait as development comes in and deal with the needs at that time?” she said.
Fraser said consultant Dan Harvey is working on a report to find answers to these questions and he will present his findings to council.
Meanwhile, the CAO said the Municipality and Town will continue to promote and market the industrial park through various initiatives.
“Recently, we put signs up industrial lands for sale. When you’re coming through Conway you’ll see those signs. So that was a new initiative we did this summer,” she concluded.