KENTVILLE, NS - Residents on seven subdivision streets in Kings County will see paving projects this year thanks to a provincial-municipal cost sharing program.
Seven streets are slated for paving under the cost sharing program for so-called J-Class streets for the 2018-2019 fiscal year, including three in the Foleaze Park subdivision in Brow of Mountain.
In total, 3.41 km will be paved or repaved at a cost of $659,000, with the province and County of Kings each covering half the cost or $329,500. Kings County council approved the funding amount as part of the budget deliberation process.
The municipality submits an annual priority list to the provincial Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal (DTIR). Certain J-Class or subdivision streets make the municipal list based on a number of factors, including safety considerations such as surface condition and the number of residents on a given street.
A long process
Concerned Foleaze Park residents Lesley Sweet and Roger Bennett worked in collaboration with the municipality and DTIR for approximately two years to get their streets on the priority list. Sweet said there was quite a learning curve for everyone involved.
She said they’re pleased to see two other Foleaze Park subdivision streets - Davlyn Drive and Rosalind Drive - added to this year’s list along with Foleaze Park. However, she recognizes that “it’s not over ‘til it’s over” and there isn’t cause to celebrate until the pavement is down.
Sweet said they haven’t jumped the queue but respected the process and worked to get the streets on the priority list. She said they’d be willing to work with affected residents in other areas of the municipality to help them understand the process.
FOLEAZE PARK RESIDENTS WANT STREETS PRIORITIZED FOR COST-SHARED SUBDIVISION PAVING
FEWER KINGS SUBDIVISION STREETS TO BE RESURFACED THIS YEAR DUE TO PROVINCIAL FUNDING REDUCTION
County of Kings director of Engineering and Public Works, Lands and Park Services Scott Quinn said the municipality’s J-Class paving priority list was reduced from what was originally submitted to the province, at DTIR’s request.
After the province confirmed which streets from the reduced list it would be willing to share in the cost of paving, municipal staff went back to council to see if a couple could be swapped out in exchange for two streets adjoining Foleaze Park.
Both of these streets, Davlyn and Rosalind, were high priorities but further down the list and wouldn’t have been paved this year. Quinn said it would make more sense from a construction perspective to pave all three at the same time since the paving equipment would already be in the area.
Quinn said they’re currently awaiting tender results and the only reason the projects would have to go back before council at this point is if tenders come in more than 10 per cent above the estimate.
Changes in the future?
Kings County Mayor Peter Muttart said it’s always been the municipality’s belief that once J-Class streets are surfaced or resurfaced as part of the cost sharing program, responsibility for future resurfacing would fall to the province.
“We’re now experiencing a situation where they’ve changed some personnel at DTIR and they seem to want to be retracting from that position, so that’s under discussion,” Muttart said.
The current J-Class cost sharing agreement established in 2014 arose from the 1995 Service Exchange Agreement that saw the province and municipalities swap certain fiscal responsibilities. Kings County has more kilometres of J-Class roads than any other municipality in the province.
Muttart said there is still a bylaw on the books that would allow for subdivision streets to be paved if a certain percentage of residents in a given area supported a petitioning process and were willing to pay a portion of the cost. He said the municipality hasn’t been receiving applications for this program and he assumes it’s because the municipal share is covered through the general tax rate under the current J-Class program. However, there could be quite a wait involved for residents on deteriorating streets.
Muttart said something has to change with the current funding structure. The municipality is proposing to the province that a letter of undertaking be provided committing to annual J-Class road funding for a number of years.
The municipality could take this letter to the bank to leverage additional borrowing so that J-Class paving projects could be completed quicker than is currently the case.
“We have to find options, we have to find alternatives, either new sources of money - new revenues for the municipality that don’t come out of the taxpayers’ pocket - or we have to innovate in other ways,” Muttart said. “We’re working on it.”
Prior to last year’s J-Class paving projects, which saw only 0.89 km of resurfacing, there were about 14.8 km of J-class roads eligible for upgrading to an asphalt surface remaining in Kings County and about 5.2 km eligible for chip sealing.
The 2018-2019 J-Class paving list
- Tufts Avenue in Greenwood, 0.73 km from the beginning of the listing at the cul de sac to the end of the cul de sac, $105,000.
- Glengary Row in Greenwood, 0.39 km from William Street to Neily Crescent, $65,000.
- Whittington Drive in Greenwood, 0.40 km from Route 201 to Aldred Drive, $65,000.
- Charles Street in North Kentville, 0.53 km from Mee Road to the end of the listing, $115,000.
- Davlyn Drive in Brow of Mountain, 0.39 km from Foleaze Park Drive to Brow of Mountain Road, $94,000.
- Rosalind Drive in Brow of Mountain, 0.32 km from Davlyn Drive to the cul de sac, $85,000.
- Foleaze Park in Brow of Mountain, 0.65 km from Route 359 to the end of the listing, $130,000.
