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Good evening everyone and welcome to the
town council meeting of March 16, 2026.

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I'll call the meeting to order and I'll
ask the deputy mayor to read our land

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acknowledgement and our recognition of
historic contributions, please.

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» Thank you, Mary McKay. The town of
Wolffield acknowledges that we are

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located in Migmagi, the ancestral and
unseated territory of the Migma people.

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As a town committed to reconciliation
and respectful governance, we ask that

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all who live, work, and gather here do
so with the seven sacred teachings in

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mind. Truth, honesty, love, courage,
respect, wisdom, and humility. These

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teachings guide us in building community
rooted in understanding, fairness, care

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for one another, and for the land.
Please pause for a moment of reflection.

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How can we be good guests on this land?

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We also would like we also acknowledge
the histories, contributions, and

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legacies of African Nova Scotian people
who have shar shared these lands for

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over 400 years. And we acknowledge the
shared ancestry of all people of African

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descent in Nova Scotia.
>> Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Uh CA, there's

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no changes to the agenda.
>> There are no changes.

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» Then the agenda will be approved as
circulated. There are minutes uh from

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the town council meeting of February 17,
2026.

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Uh did anyone see any errors or
omissions?

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Seeing none, those will be approved as
circulated.

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Uh there are there any declarations of
conflict of interest? If so, I'd ask

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that council declare so now.
Seeing none, uh we'll move on to um our

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community events, occasions, and
acknowledgements. So, this is a time

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where we take a few minutes and say
what's going on in our community. Uh, it

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is March break and there's lots of camps
going on. So, hope the kids and teachers

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are having a good break. I'm sure
parents are equally as excited about the

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March break. No, maybe not. Um, today I
believe Stage Profits tickets went on

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sale for Cinderella, which is happening
in May. So, get your tickets early. Um,

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Soups and Sides, it was on tonight and
is on again next Monday night. And next

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Monday night, we'll have people from
Engage Nova Scotia to do the quality of

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life um
survey. So if you want to come out and

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do that and if you don't know about that
and you're not coming to Suits and

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Sides, that is on our Facebook link. Uh
so a QR code. So uh it does gather

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information to help the province um
inform its decisions on our quality of

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life. So we ask everyone to fill that
out. Uh today our registration for our

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summer camps also opened up. Uh so those
will be those are all listed on our

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website as well. So uh find those there.
Tomorrow is St. Patty's Day. Joke? No

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jokes allowed. Uh so hope everybody has
a nice safe uh celebration.

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Is there anything else that's uh
happening in town that you'd like to

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acknowledge?

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» Oh, Howard.
>> Well, simply two recent events. Yes. One

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of which involved
counselor Butler. So he gave an

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excellent
play.

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» Nice.
>> And secondly, we were treated to Chris

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Norman
>> at the weekend at St. John's Church and

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that was I'm forgetting.
>> Oh, very nice.

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» Oh, thank you for that.

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» Oh, your mic. Just move it. Move your
microphone over.

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We got to put you on stage so you'll
know how to use the microphone.

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» Thank you for that. Um, and at this
point in time, it is our time for public

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input. So, um, a reminder to all
speakers that our town conducts our

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business with the seven sacred teachings
in mind. Uh, the members of the public

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participating in public input will
conduct themselves in a manner that is

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respectful to the public, council, and
staff. Uh you'll have five minutes to

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provide your input and it'll be directed
through the chair and responses will be

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provided after the meeting either via
email or in person or may be included in

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a future report. Anything that relates
to personnel, current or potential

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litigation issues, planning issues for
which a public hearing has already

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occurred but no decision made by council
will not be responded to. At this time,

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I would invite anyone who has anything
that they would like to address.

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Council, please step to the mic and say
your name. Please

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mic. You can go to the mic and state
your name.

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You'll have five minutes. The CIO will
record and let you know when your five

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minutes is nearly up.
>> My name is Abdullah Hassan. I live in 35

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Sterling Avenue.
I want to talk about the new uh proposed

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nursing home.
Um and I just want to cover a few uh

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bits and pieces that are relevant to uh
the nursing home and its impact on

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Sterling Avenue. Currently there are two
nursing homes and a senior's apartment

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in Wolf. There is Wolf Elms and there is
Wolf Nursing Home Limited which is

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undergoing expansion and renovation and
there is the retirement complex at Wire

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Place which is currently advertising for
seniors uh for occupying vacant

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apartment.
There is also

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although my my information is not exact
here that there is a complex being built

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in Maple Avenue with 48 departments, not
all of which are dedicated to uh adults

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of my age.
Um my question at the at the present

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that I would like to answer is do we
need another nursing home in Wolfville?

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Probably not. And in my humble opinion,
I'm going to give you a few reasons why.

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Wolfville has a population of 5,200
and 200

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residents. 4,000 citizens. Of the 5,200,
about 22% are all to the age of 65. I'm

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a general surgeon. I'm retired. I have
built all my life, 47 years with nursing

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home residents, and I have visited many.
There will be about 1144 residents who

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are
um eligible to go to into a nursing

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home, myself included.
Um there is at the present we have

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plenty of space for all of those who
want to go there.

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Therefore, in my humble opinion, we do
not need a nursing home, a new nursing

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home, especially with the urgency it is
being done. A new nursing home placed in

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tight proximity to Sterling Avenue will
bring

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uh many changes and I have taken these
from current zoning guidelines. There

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will be noise of construction which will
take a year maybe two. The car park

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noise which is going to be continuous
plus the noise coming from the nursing

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home itself. It is not going to be in
harmony with existing dwellings in

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Sterling Avenue and those in the western
part of the current nursing home which

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include uh the municipality of Granch.
It will devalue our homes. It will

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disturb the peace and quiet which is an
important advantage of living uh in

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Sterling Avenue. I've been living there
since I semi-retired about nine years

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ago. The residents of Sterling Avenue
are mostly professionals. Most many of

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them teach in the university. I know of
four physicians. Only one is retired and

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their opposition
uh to the highrise in our backyard is

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boom by the signatures we're going to
present to you and I have previously

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presented to Morrison.
There will also be pressure on

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infrastructure.
We met with Mark

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Frederick's on the 2nd of September and
I arranged the meeting. Uh it would be

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another statement to say that we got any
satisfactory answer

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by redefining the bed unit into three.
three beds will be equal to a one

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dwelling which happened I believe on the
24th meeting 24th February meeting of

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the council. Um this in my opinion
represent a concession to the developers

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and
>> you have one minute remaining sir. One

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minute remaining on your comments.
>> Sure.

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In the meeting that we discussed uh the
nursing home, we were not given any uh

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information about the number of
employees, any increase in traffic and

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in the increase in the amount of
construction and the financial impact

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nor
I would like to say finally there is no

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immediate dressing need for a nursing
home of Wilville may be required in

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other areas of Kings County. Um, I
suggest that the council should buy the

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land back from the developers and leave
it as a green belt as Michael McCarthy

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intended it initially to be uh to help
developers finding another site either

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in Wolf or outside it and
use the fund the accelerator fund for

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other areas.
>> Your time has elapsed sir. Thank you.

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Thank you very much for your input.

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Yeah, certainly just leave that there.
Thank you. Appreciate that. Is there

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anyone else who would like to contribute
to public input this evening?

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Yep. Then come on up and say your name
and your address, please.

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[clears throat]

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Keep coming towards me. Yeah, here you
go. There I go. [laughter]

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Thank you so much for the opportunity
for your community and the time to be

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heard tonight. We appreciate it very
much. My name is Dr. Christianne

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Rushton. My pronouns are she and her. I
am professor of classical voice and

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currently the director of the school of
music at Acadia. I share my home on

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Sterling Avenue with my husband, our two
children, my mother-in-law, and our

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annoying dog, Rudy. We wish to begin
with a note of thanks.

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The latest information that came to our
home indicates that you as town council

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as well as potential developers are
listening and we're grateful for that

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and we encourage this type of community
engagement as we are grateful and

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continue to be grateful for the chance
to share the lingering pervasive and

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concerning issues for Sterling Avenue.
If town council votes to accept this new

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development, this vote will be in
essence a vote against your neighbors. A

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vote against their peace, their health,
their well-being, and a vote to alter

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their financial security. A vote that
will reduce your neighbors ability to

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have safety, security, and sanctuary.
Aren't we dealing with enough? The world

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feels already very hard. Challenges
nationally and internationally have

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threatened our sense of calm. Recent
cuts in arts and culture are our for our

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underserved communities and our outside
world have caused pain. We're all

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affected by these nonsensical and
hurtful budget changes.

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Now on our campus, 31 positions have
been cut. Families reduced incomes,

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pain, and hurt within friendships
programs in peril. Our community feels

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fractured with so few things within our
choice. With so few things that we can

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control,
our options in the midst of this are to

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protect one another. Our peace, our
sense of safety and calm. Our homes are

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sanctuaries. Our need for wellness has
to be found somewhere. This is your

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choice. This is your decision.
This decision is not the only option. Of

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the many things I've learned in
leadership, it's that separating the

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problem from the solution can be very
helpful. For example, currently we are

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discussing the potential development as
a solution to the ongoing issue of aging

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population. I remind council this
development that solving this in this

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way is not the only way forward.
We own property in a town where beauty,

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quiet, solitude, and privacy was and is
a part of Wolf charm, culture, and

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commitment. We encourage town council to
protect and honor this.

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Recently, we've heard thousands begging
for reversals of provincial budget cuts.

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Programs that provided peace, respit,
sanctuary, and financial aid. They were

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cut. The government did not listen. We
urge you to not do the same.

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We've been here before for eight months.
I've watched and witnessed town council

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listen. I've watched the emails, the
letters, the meetings. Um I was at the

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one of the very first meetings this
summer when I was a brand new homeowner

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on Sterling Avenue. We really don't want
to continue to have to beg town council

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to listen. This is where we find our
peace and our solitude.

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We're asking you as our town council to
respect your friends, to hear your

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neighbors, and act on behalf of those
who will feel this effect most greatly.

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Please protect our peace by saying no to
the development that will fundamentally

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change your neighbor's home life, their
experience, their property values.

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Thank you for listening.
>> Thank you.

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Is there anyone else who would like to
provide input at this time?

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No.
Sorry.

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We've been having some te technical
difficulties. So, I've been told that if

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we take a break for a minute, we can
start, stop, and start again. and then

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maybe five to get it back online so that
people can at home can watch it. So,

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we're going to take just a couple of
minutes and Kaden's going to stop and

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start so that those that are at home can
live frame.