WEST HANTS, N.S. — A former municipal councillor is praising West Hants for getting out of the new arena business.
Shirley Pineo, a Mantua resident and former long-time West Hants councillor, attended the Feb. 27 committee of the whole meeting to provide an update on the Annapolis Valley Regional Library. She stayed for the duration of the meeting and provided input as the session came to a close.
She said she was speaking not only for herself but “practically everybody” that she had discussed the arena situation with from her area.
“We are very pleased with the decision that this council made when you changed your position regarding the proposed hockey arena/rink that was being built in Windsor. Now that it has become a scaled down project, I don't know what to call it; I guess it's just a rink,” said Pineo.
At the end of January, West Hants council announced it would give notice to the Town of Windsor that it was removing itself from the Inter-Municipal Service Agreement that was struck in 2017 so that the municipal units could pursue a joint Hockey Heritage Centre project .
Despite pulling out of the agreement, West Hants recommitted $1 million in funding, to be distributed over five years, for the new arena.
Pineo said providing a one-time financial contribution was the proper course of action.
“We are very happy, very grateful actually, knowing that this council was responsible to make sure that the ongoing maintenance in the future would not be borne by the taxpayers of West Hants,” she said.
“That's extremely important because we have no way of knowing what the costs would be in the future and we're very pleased that that decision was made by this council.”
