General Updates and News

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by Empire

If we axe 14 councilors immediately, then we would have $1,008,000 a year to put into a stadium fund. Let's start with the councilors most vehemently opposed the stadium.

I dunno about that, but if I had to fire 14 of them, it would be:

1. Dawn Sloane
2. Jim Smith
3. Mary Wile
4. Jennifer Watts
5. Jerry Blumenthal
6. David Hendsbee
7. Reg Rankin
8. Brad Johns
9. Jackie Barkhouse
10. Debbie Hum
11. Steve Adams (only for his taxi commission stance)
12. Russell Walker
13. Linda Mosher
14. Peter Kelly (saving the worst for first and last)

[DigitalNinja]

Whose idea was it to hire all of the councelors. They should be fired first.

[someone123]

What I've often wondered is whether or not larger districts would result in better councillors. Pay could also be increased somewhat so that it would be competitive with professional salaries - in other words, it would be plausible for somebody who isn't independently wealthy to take time out from a real career to be a councillor for a single term. Ever notice how narrow council's demographics tend to be?

The city only really needs maybe 6 councillors (officially hired on full time) plus the mayor. One thing that would definitely improve with the lower numbers, all else being equal, is that council meetings would be shorter and more coherent.

[hfx_chris]

Originally Posted by Phalanx

I'm going to miss that Access Nova Scotia site... it's the one I used. It's far more convenient than going out to Bayers Lake.

You go there often?

[Phalanx]

Of course not, but given that there are always people there, it's not just about convenience for one or two people. Given enough people with enough reason to use it, it adds up. As noted by someone else Bayers Lake isn't exactly a great location for those of us without cars. I don't think I'm the only one on the forum, or in Halifax that's in that situation...

[fenwick16]

I am not sure where the thread is for this; the allnovascotia.com is reporting that the 50 Bedford Highway Bayview Motel Inn Tower will proceed in the spring 2011. This looks like 21-22 storeys on top of a 2-3 storey podium. Looks like the tallest to be built in Halifax in many years. It might not be beaten until the 32 storey King's Wharf tower is built.

They are building on the site of past developments so they don't expect to have problems with unmarked graves as has been reported.

The rendering looks like one that was previously posted (allnovascotia.com uses software that prevents the rendering from being posted here). I have to give allnovascotia.com credit, they seem to have very good sources.

[Phalanx]

It's in the Suburb forum. Click here.

[fenwick16]

Thanks. I will repost it there.

[Jstaleness]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

I dunno about that, but if I had to fire 14 of them, it would be:

1. Dawn Sloane
2. Jim Smith
3. Mary Wile
4. Jennifer Watts
5. Jerry Blumenthal
6. David Hendsbee
7. Reg Rankin
8. Brad Johns
9. Jackie Barkhouse
10. Debbie Hum
11. Steve Adams (only for his taxi commission stance)
12. Russell Walker
13. Linda Mosher
14. Peter Kelly (saving the worst for first and last)

[reddog794]

He looks either high, or giddy at the fact he fooled us into electing him again...

I like your list Keith, I was thinking about the same thing in the shower this morning. I could come up with 8 council seats, Penn, DT, Main, Clayton, Dart, Dart E/CH, Bed, Sack, and then the Mayor.

[someone123]

Allnovascotia announced two new retail openings for Barrington: a Starbucks for the old Tim Horton's location and a wine bar for the Frozen Ocean spot.

[haligonia]

Starbucks must be in some sort of expansion; there are now three opening soon. Barrington, The one across from the hydrostone, and the one in the old Dairy Queen spot at mill cove in Bedford.

That's fantastic news though. It's always good to have openings and not closings. And once the Espace is completed, i think that modern, renovated heritage space should be appealing to retailers, and the space should fill
up, no problem.

Barrington's future is looking up!

[someone123]

As I have said I am optimistic about Barrington because the economy of the city is doing well and there is demand for new construction downtown. The "fuel" for Barrington's recovery is there, it has just been held back until recently.

Another factor in a bunch of recent closings (though not all) is simply a changing retail business in general. Carsand-Mosher was a nice store but their business is half gone since the switch over to digital photography and online sales. The same thing goes with some types of book stores and Amazon. I don't feel bad about stores closing when the online services are better.

[Jstaleness]

Originally Posted by Bedford_DJ

Shopping centre reinventing itself
Mumford Road space to house doctors, clinics
By BRUCE ERSKINE Business Reporter
Thu. Apr 15 - 4:55 AM

The Access Nova Scotia space in the Halifax Shopping Centre annex on Mumford Road is being transformed into a medical services centre.

"The building is being refocused," said Linda Townsend, Halifax marketing director for 20 Vic Management Inc., which manages the shopping centre for its owner, the Ontario Pension Board.

The new medical space will extend from The Bay to Winners and will include doctors’ offices and specialty clinics, Townsend said in an interview Wednesday.

"It’s under development right now," she said.

Townsend didn’t disclose the building’s new tenants but said the reconfigured space is expected to be complete by the spring of 2011.

The Access Nova Scotia office, which issues driver’s licences, vehicle registration permits, birth and marriage certificates and various business licences, is moving to 300 Horseshoe Lake Dr. in the Bayers Lake Business Park, effective Oct. 1.

The Mumford Road location is the only one in Halifax, and some have complained that moving it to Bayers Lake is inconvenient and will harm the environment by forcing many to drive or use transit to get there.

Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations, the government department responsible for the centres, said the move was necessary because the Mumford Road lease was expiring and the landlord chose not to re-offer on the department’s request for proposals.

Department spokeswoman Angel Limgenco said the original location plans for the centre were changed to meet its space requirements.

"We understand that it is a change, but it has ample parking and is on a bus route," she said in an interview Wednesday.

Limgenco said there are Access Nova Scotia offices in Dartmouth and Lower Sackville, and services are also available online.

( [email protected] )

I forget who the interview was with but on News 95.7 this morning they had a spokesperson for Access Nova Scotia. She said they were unable to obtain a new lease agreement with the current location. She also claimed that there was "no" space on the peninsula for them? I find that hard to believe. She said nothing about needing more space like the article states. Wouldn't they need less space with some services being available online?

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Jstaleness

Wouldn't they need less space with some services being available online?

It's the NS government. There's probably still a separate horse and buggy registry with an expensive lease somewhere.

[sdm]

Originally Posted by Jstaleness

I forget who the interview was with but on News 95.7 this morning they had a spokesperson for Access Nova Scotia. She said they were unable to obtain a new lease agreement with the current location. She also claimed that there was "no" space on the peninsula for them? I find that hard to believe. She said nothing about needing more space like the article states. Wouldn't they need less space with some services being available online?

there was no space on the peninsula because as part of the tender they requested 150 parking stalls.

[fenwick16]

When I want to get my vehicle renewal stickers, I can go to a local automated kiosk (like a large ATM) and use my credit card to get the renewal stickers (I am in the Milton, Ontario area). So I only have to go to a vehicle licence center once every few years.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

When I want to get my vehicle renewal stickers, I can go to a local automated kiosk (like a large ATM) and use my credit card to get the renewal stickers (I am in the Milton, Ontario area). So I only have to go to a vehicle licence center once every few years.

But you forget, this is Nova Scotia. A substantial percentage of citizens refuse to accept any change from the old way of doing things. They would prefer to have all registrations expire March 31st and have a lineup of hundreds of people at the counter that day.

Having said all that, this is an atrocious location choice.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

But you forget, this is Nova Scotia. A substantial percentage of citizens refuse to accept any change from the old way of doing things. They would prefer to have all registrations expire March 31st and have a lineup of hundreds of people at the counter that day.

Having said all that, this is an atrocious location choice.

I didn't know that all registrations expire March 31st of each year. In Ontario, registrations expire on the car owners birthday so the expiration dates are averaged equally throughout the year. What is the logic behind having them all expire on March 31?

[planarchy]

Something for the Halifax Grain Towers??



Saw this today and was thinking about the possibilities for the grain towers in Halifax.

As Midwest metropolitan landscapes undergo change — from agrarian to suburban — the systems of earlier settlement become obsolete; farmsteads, rail, grain silos, etc. Many of these are demolished to make way for the new, with the exception of the mid-century concrete grain elevators and their assembled silos. Thick, heavily engineered construction renders them too expensive for demolition. These structures, with their economic condition and cultural narrative, are opportunity for compelling regional land use discourse.

Emerging Terrain is spearheading a collaborative endeavor to repurpose a derelict, yet iconic, historic landscape structure as contemporary cultural awareness. Creative minds nationwide will submit ideas for 20’ x 80’ images to hang on the exterior of a vacant grain elevator near downtown Omaha. Concurrent with fall harvest, a dinner table at the base of the elevator will host an epic dinner to celebrate the exhibition.

http://www.emergingterrain.org/storedpotential/