WINDSOR, N.S. — As more and more seniors call The Crossing retirement community in West Hants home, the issues between neighbouring municipalities become more and more evident.
Residents have been expressing their concerns over the Windsor-West Hants boundary line issue as far back as 2015, with the situation coming to a head this spring.
In 2015, there was a large swath of grass and a metal guardrail in place separating Edward Drive (in West Hants) and Underwood Drive (in Windsor).
As Brison Developments began constructing homes along Edward Drive in earnest, instead of closing off the street and creating a cul-de-sac, the developer of The Crossing paved up to the county line in hopes of connecting the roads.
Windsor responded by making Underwood Drive a cul-de-sac and installing a wooden fence to keep The Crossing residents out.
Underwood Drive connects to Payzant Drive, which is another one-way-in, one-way-out road that houses numerous apartment complexes, the Hants Community Hospital and Avon View High School. The main road is busy while Underwood Drive is considered a quiet subdivision with families.
Earlier this year, the Municipality of West Hants installed a metal, lockable gate so that the roads could be accessed by emergency personnel only, though the wooden fence remained.
On May 30, the middle section of Windsor’s fence was cut down, prompting the town to react and install two concrete barricades so that no one could pass between the municipal boundary, unless by foot or by bicycle.
Betty Crockett, project manager at The Crossing, and Mitch Brison, the developer, have had enough.
“We shouldn't even be talking about this. I mean, should we be talking about something this foolish?” said Crockett, adding that she feels town officials are not looking at the bigger picture of providing safety and peace of mind to all residents.
“It's an embarrassment to the area – really, it is,” she said.
Last winter, piles of snow were dumped at the end of Underwood Drive, further cementing the town’s stance that thoroughfare, even by emergency vehicles, was not welcome.
“You couldn't get through if you had to. They deliberately piled snow in the way,” said Brison.
“What type of neighbour would do something like that? If your neighbour needed to get out to go to the hospital, you wouldn't let him get out? That's what they're doing,” he added.
Crockett said the ongoing development issue between the counties should be concerning to all taxpayers.
“Our concern is well beyond the 220 homes we have here,” said Crockett June 26, noting the development has about 400 senior citizens.
After witnessing three medical calls — June 21, 24 and 25, Crockett said the line that divides the communities has to go.
Crockett is gravely concerned that when seconds count, residents won’t be able to get to the nearby hospital quickly enough, all because an emergency access gate has been prevented.
During one of the recent emergency calls at The Crossing, Crockett said the ambulance got tied up in Highway 101 construction traffic, resulting in a long wait time for the patient. That, she said, could have been avoided if the emergency access gate was available. The trip to the hospital using the gate would be about three minutes. That day, it took more than 30 minutes. Usually, it would take about eight minutes.
If “somebody dies or... is paralyzed or whatever because they couldn't get them to the hospital fast enough, there will be a lawsuit. It'll be the Town of Windsor taxpayers that are going to pay it,” said Crockett.
NOT JUST ABOUT THE CROSSING
Brison says they’re not looking to open up the road permanently anymore. Residents simply want a reliable means of getting to the hospital should there be an emergency.
He said having an emergency gate would not just benefit The Crossing. It would benefit anyone attending Avon View High School or the Hants Community Hospital should an emergency occur that blocked Payzant Drive.
“I can't stress the point enough. This is not just about us. This is about two communities that have a publicly-funded hospital with one way in, one way out. It's the height of ridiculousness. It really is,” said Brison.
He says he’s frustrated that no matter what he does as a developer to bring hundreds of thousands of dollars of new money into the area, another hurdle is put up.
Brison has a road reserve included in his Garlands Crossing development, which will be used when the two municipalities open a Cole Drive extension. (That roadway, which will link to the Super 8 and Atlantic Superstore, has been in the works for several years.) In order to access necessary building permits, he’s also created a second access road to leave The Crossing — but it’s a narrow, bumpy road that leads out to the end of King Street and wouldn’t result in a quicker trip to the hospital.
“If the hospital was over here, and there was a concrete gate up there, and the people in Windsor couldn't get to the hospital, I imagine they'd have a different story wouldn't they?” said Brison. “If this project was within town limits, it was paying tax to the town as opposed to the municipality, I imagine it would be a different story.”
So what’s the best case scenario?
“That the powers that be in the Town of Windsor start acting like mature adults. They were elected by the people to represent the people. Represent the people not their personal agendas,” said Crockett.
Brison concurred, asking to have public safety take a front seat in the conversation.
QUICK ACCESS BENEFICIAL
Jamie Juteau, Windsor’s fire chief, said whenever a reliable second entrance to and from a site is available, it’s a win for emergency service providers.
“I’m not a city planner, nor am I qualified engineer, or anything along those lines. I understand there are future roads plans and bylaws in effect between both municipal units. From a fire emergency standpoint, two ways in and out of occupancies are important,” Juteau said.
The fire chief noted that locked gates that police and firefighters could access “would certainly not hurt” but noted paramedics may have a tricky time as ambulances respond to emergencies from multiple counties and may not have a key.
“Quick access to any subdivision or what-have-you is the best result for any emergency call-out, no matter what it is.”
Juteau said it wasn’t in his purview to weigh in on what should occur with the current issue between the two counties, but said in an emergency, firefighters will do what is necessary to access any site.
“The best thing is cooperation between municipal units, municipal staff, contractors, and emergency service providers — that’s the best way to make it work,” he added.
WEST HANTS COUNCIL ‘FRUSTRATED’
Randy Hussey, a councillor with West Hants, said he sounds like “a broken record” constantly bringing up the boundary issue between the two counties.
After the Town of Windsor put concrete barricades at the boundary line, even though there’s an emergency access gate, Hussey said enough is enough.
“This has gotten to the point now where this has become petty and I would like us to have a letter written to Windsor council just to remove barricades,” said Hussey during the June 11 council meeting.
He’s concerned for all residents — not just those residing in The Crossing development or attending Avon View High School.
“I don’t give a damn about barricades and I don’t give a damn about road closures. I want the people to get out and I’m tired of this. It’s absolutely frustrating that we have a barricade between our two municipalities and it’s time it came down.”
Coun. Kathy Monroe and Coun. Tanya Leopold both indicated they wanted to see this issue resolved sooner rather than later.
“This has been an issue since the day we came on board (council). We can’t seem to fight our way through it; everybody is pointing fingers, we’re not getting to a solution and this is just another example,” said Monroe.
“Those barricades didn’t have to go up. I don’t condone what somebody did when they took down that wooden portion but there’s still a locked gate on the other side. I don’t understand. We didn’t take it down and yet it seems as though we’re being punished for this, or our citizens are being punished,” she added.
Leopold said she’s “totally frustrated by the whole thing” and that she doesn’t want to end her term on council with no movement on the issue.
Coun. Jennifer Daniels said she understands the situation is frustrating but is asking people to be cautious when discussing what could happen in the event of an emergency, noting there are plans in place.
“We’ve got to stop fear mongering until we find a solution for this. The solution is blatantly obvious but we also have a future streets plan that both councils agreed upon and a developer who went ahead and just paved up to a border,” said Daniels.
“All I’m asking is that we stop using things that may not happen or may happen but there’s already an emergency plan in place. We just need to stop this fear mongering altogether, please.”
West Hants’ chief administrative officer Martin Laycock said there was a staff meeting planned for June 18 to explore a permanent solution to connect Windsor and West Hants roadways.
At council’s committee of the whole meeting June 25, the issue was listed on the agenda but councillors tabled discussion until July.
After the barricades went up in June, Windsor’s chief administrative officer Louis Coutinho told the Journal that he was optimistic the councils and staff would be able to reach an agreeable conclusion to the issue.
“This is an unfortunate incident that will not deter the goodwill of our two councils from arriving at a permanent solution,” he said.
As of press time, Hants West MLA Chuck Porter, who also serves as the provincial minister of municipal affairs, has not responded to a request for an interview.
READ MORE
- Underwood gate issue along Windsor-West Hants border continues to escalate
- A question of ‘life and death’: Safety concerns prompt seniors to request Windsor, West Hants work together to solve road connection problem
- Kerfuffle over Windsor-West Hants road connector frustrates developer
- Date set for public hearing on Underwood Drive dispute in Windsor
- Windsor council approves Underwood Drive closure
