[0:04] Good evening everyone and welcome to the
town council meeting of March 16, 2026.
[0:10] I'll call the meeting to order and I'll
ask the deputy mayor to read our land
[0:13] acknowledgement and our recognition of
historic contributions, please.
[0:16] » Thank you, Mary McKay. The town of
Wolffield acknowledges that we are
[0:20] located in Migmagi, the ancestral and
unseated territory of the Migma people.
[0:24] As a town committed to reconciliation
and respectful governance, we ask that
[0:28] all who live, work, and gather here do
so with the seven sacred teachings in
[0:32] mind. Truth, honesty, love, courage,
respect, wisdom, and humility. These
[0:37] teachings guide us in building community
rooted in understanding, fairness, care
[0:41] for one another, and for the land.
Please pause for a moment of reflection.
[0:45] How can we be good guests on this land?
[0:55] We also would like we also acknowledge
the histories, contributions, and
[0:58] legacies of African Nova Scotian people
who have shar shared these lands for
[1:02] over 400 years. And we acknowledge the
shared ancestry of all people of African
[1:07] descent in Nova Scotia.
>> Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Uh CA, there's
[1:11] no changes to the agenda.
>> There are no changes.
[1:14] » Then the agenda will be approved as
circulated. There are minutes uh from
[1:19] the town council meeting of February 17,
2026.
[1:23] Uh did anyone see any errors or
omissions?
[1:28] Seeing none, those will be approved as
circulated.
[1:32] Uh there are there any declarations of
conflict of interest? If so, I'd ask
[1:36] that council declare so now.
Seeing none, uh we'll move on to um our
[1:44] community events, occasions, and
acknowledgements. So, this is a time
[1:46] where we take a few minutes and say
what's going on in our community. Uh, it
[1:50] is March break and there's lots of camps
going on. So, hope the kids and teachers
[1:54] are having a good break. I'm sure
parents are equally as excited about the
[1:58] March break. No, maybe not. Um, today I
believe Stage Profits tickets went on
[2:05] sale for Cinderella, which is happening
in May. So, get your tickets early. Um,
[2:11] Soups and Sides, it was on tonight and
is on again next Monday night. And next
[2:15] Monday night, we'll have people from
Engage Nova Scotia to do the quality of
[2:19] life um
survey. So if you want to come out and
[2:23] do that and if you don't know about that
and you're not coming to Suits and
[2:25] Sides, that is on our Facebook link. Uh
so a QR code. So uh it does gather
[2:30] information to help the province um
inform its decisions on our quality of
[2:35] life. So we ask everyone to fill that
out. Uh today our registration for our
[2:40] summer camps also opened up. Uh so those
will be those are all listed on our
[2:44] website as well. So uh find those there.
Tomorrow is St. Patty's Day. Joke? No
[2:51] jokes allowed. Uh so hope everybody has
a nice safe uh celebration.
[2:57] Is there anything else that's uh
happening in town that you'd like to
[3:01] acknowledge?
[3:04] » Oh, Howard.
>> Well, simply two recent events. Yes. One
[3:08] of which involved
counselor Butler. So he gave an
[3:13] excellent
play.
[3:15] » Nice.
>> And secondly, we were treated to Chris
[3:18] Norman
>> at the weekend at St. John's Church and
[3:23] that was I'm forgetting.
>> Oh, very nice.
[3:26] » Oh, thank you for that.
[3:31] » Oh, your mic. Just move it. Move your
microphone over.
[3:35] We got to put you on stage so you'll
know how to use the microphone.
[3:40] » Thank you for that. Um, and at this
point in time, it is our time for public
[3:45] input. So, um, a reminder to all
speakers that our town conducts our
[3:50] business with the seven sacred teachings
in mind. Uh, the members of the public
[3:54] participating in public input will
conduct themselves in a manner that is
[3:57] respectful to the public, council, and
staff. Uh you'll have five minutes to
[4:01] provide your input and it'll be directed
through the chair and responses will be
[4:06] provided after the meeting either via
email or in person or may be included in
[4:10] a future report. Anything that relates
to personnel, current or potential
[4:14] litigation issues, planning issues for
which a public hearing has already
[4:18] occurred but no decision made by council
will not be responded to. At this time,
[4:23] I would invite anyone who has anything
that they would like to address.
[4:26] Council, please step to the mic and say
your name. Please
[4:32] mic. You can go to the mic and state
your name.
[4:39] You'll have five minutes. The CIO will
record and let you know when your five
[4:43] minutes is nearly up.
>> My name is Abdullah Hassan. I live in 35
[4:50] Sterling Avenue.
I want to talk about the new uh proposed
[4:55] nursing home.
Um and I just want to cover a few uh
[5:01] bits and pieces that are relevant to uh
the nursing home and its impact on
[5:06] Sterling Avenue. Currently there are two
nursing homes and a senior's apartment
[5:12] in Wolf. There is Wolf Elms and there is
Wolf Nursing Home Limited which is
[5:18] undergoing expansion and renovation and
there is the retirement complex at Wire
[5:24] Place which is currently advertising for
seniors uh for occupying vacant
[5:30] apartment.
There is also
[5:33] although my my information is not exact
here that there is a complex being built
[5:39] in Maple Avenue with 48 departments, not
all of which are dedicated to uh adults
[5:46] of my age.
Um my question at the at the present
[5:51] that I would like to answer is do we
need another nursing home in Wolfville?
[5:57] Probably not. And in my humble opinion,
I'm going to give you a few reasons why.
[6:03] Wolfville has a population of 5,200
and 200
[6:11] residents. 4,000 citizens. Of the 5,200,
about 22% are all to the age of 65. I'm
[6:21] a general surgeon. I'm retired. I have
built all my life, 47 years with nursing
[6:26] home residents, and I have visited many.
There will be about 1144 residents who
[6:33] are
um eligible to go to into a nursing
[6:39] home, myself included.
Um there is at the present we have
[6:43] plenty of space for all of those who
want to go there.
[6:49] Therefore, in my humble opinion, we do
not need a nursing home, a new nursing
[6:53] home, especially with the urgency it is
being done. A new nursing home placed in
[6:59] tight proximity to Sterling Avenue will
bring
[7:05] uh many changes and I have taken these
from current zoning guidelines. There
[7:10] will be noise of construction which will
take a year maybe two. The car park
[7:15] noise which is going to be continuous
plus the noise coming from the nursing
[7:18] home itself. It is not going to be in
harmony with existing dwellings in
[7:23] Sterling Avenue and those in the western
part of the current nursing home which
[7:28] include uh the municipality of Granch.
It will devalue our homes. It will
[7:34] disturb the peace and quiet which is an
important advantage of living uh in
[7:39] Sterling Avenue. I've been living there
since I semi-retired about nine years
[7:44] ago. The residents of Sterling Avenue
are mostly professionals. Most many of
[7:49] them teach in the university. I know of
four physicians. Only one is retired and
[7:56] their opposition
uh to the highrise in our backyard is
[8:01] boom by the signatures we're going to
present to you and I have previously
[8:05] presented to Morrison.
There will also be pressure on
[8:09] infrastructure.
We met with Mark
[8:15] Frederick's on the 2nd of September and
I arranged the meeting. Uh it would be
[8:21] another statement to say that we got any
satisfactory answer
[8:29] by redefining the bed unit into three.
three beds will be equal to a one
[8:35] dwelling which happened I believe on the
24th meeting 24th February meeting of
[8:41] the council. Um this in my opinion
represent a concession to the developers
[8:48] and
>> you have one minute remaining sir. One
[8:52] minute remaining on your comments.
>> Sure.
[8:56] In the meeting that we discussed uh the
nursing home, we were not given any uh
[9:02] information about the number of
employees, any increase in traffic and
[9:06] in the increase in the amount of
construction and the financial impact
[9:10] nor
I would like to say finally there is no
[9:14] immediate dressing need for a nursing
home of Wilville may be required in
[9:18] other areas of Kings County. Um, I
suggest that the council should buy the
[9:24] land back from the developers and leave
it as a green belt as Michael McCarthy
[9:29] intended it initially to be uh to help
developers finding another site either
[9:36] in Wolf or outside it and
use the fund the accelerator fund for
[9:46] other areas.
>> Your time has elapsed sir. Thank you.
[9:51] Thank you very much for your input.
[9:59] Yeah, certainly just leave that there.
Thank you. Appreciate that. Is there
[10:04] anyone else who would like to contribute
to public input this evening?
[10:11] Yep. Then come on up and say your name
and your address, please.
[10:16] [clears throat]
[10:26] Keep coming towards me. Yeah, here you
go. There I go. [laughter]
[10:34] Thank you so much for the opportunity
for your community and the time to be
[10:38] heard tonight. We appreciate it very
much. My name is Dr. Christianne
[10:41] Rushton. My pronouns are she and her. I
am professor of classical voice and
[10:45] currently the director of the school of
music at Acadia. I share my home on
[10:49] Sterling Avenue with my husband, our two
children, my mother-in-law, and our
[10:54] annoying dog, Rudy. We wish to begin
with a note of thanks.
[10:59] The latest information that came to our
home indicates that you as town council
[11:04] as well as potential developers are
listening and we're grateful for that
[11:08] and we encourage this type of community
engagement as we are grateful and
[11:12] continue to be grateful for the chance
to share the lingering pervasive and
[11:17] concerning issues for Sterling Avenue.
If town council votes to accept this new
[11:23] development, this vote will be in
essence a vote against your neighbors. A
[11:27] vote against their peace, their health,
their well-being, and a vote to alter
[11:32] their financial security. A vote that
will reduce your neighbors ability to
[11:36] have safety, security, and sanctuary.
Aren't we dealing with enough? The world
[11:42] feels already very hard. Challenges
nationally and internationally have
[11:47] threatened our sense of calm. Recent
cuts in arts and culture are our for our
[11:52] underserved communities and our outside
world have caused pain. We're all
[11:57] affected by these nonsensical and
hurtful budget changes.
[12:02] Now on our campus, 31 positions have
been cut. Families reduced incomes,
[12:07] pain, and hurt within friendships
programs in peril. Our community feels
[12:12] fractured with so few things within our
choice. With so few things that we can
[12:18] control,
our options in the midst of this are to
[12:23] protect one another. Our peace, our
sense of safety and calm. Our homes are
[12:28] sanctuaries. Our need for wellness has
to be found somewhere. This is your
[12:34] choice. This is your decision.
This decision is not the only option. Of
[12:40] the many things I've learned in
leadership, it's that separating the
[12:43] problem from the solution can be very
helpful. For example, currently we are
[12:47] discussing the potential development as
a solution to the ongoing issue of aging
[12:51] population. I remind council this
development that solving this in this
[12:57] way is not the only way forward.
We own property in a town where beauty,
[13:04] quiet, solitude, and privacy was and is
a part of Wolf charm, culture, and
[13:09] commitment. We encourage town council to
protect and honor this.
[13:14] Recently, we've heard thousands begging
for reversals of provincial budget cuts.
[13:20] Programs that provided peace, respit,
sanctuary, and financial aid. They were
[13:25] cut. The government did not listen. We
urge you to not do the same.
[13:30] We've been here before for eight months.
I've watched and witnessed town council
[13:34] listen. I've watched the emails, the
letters, the meetings. Um I was at the
[13:39] one of the very first meetings this
summer when I was a brand new homeowner
[13:41] on Sterling Avenue. We really don't want
to continue to have to beg town council
[13:46] to listen. This is where we find our
peace and our solitude.
[13:51] We're asking you as our town council to
respect your friends, to hear your
[13:55] neighbors, and act on behalf of those
who will feel this effect most greatly.
[14:01] Please protect our peace by saying no to
the development that will fundamentally
[14:05] change your neighbor's home life, their
experience, their property values.
[14:11] Thank you for listening.
>> Thank you.
[14:17] Is there anyone else who would like to
provide input at this time?
[14:28] No.
Sorry.
[14:38] We've been having some te technical
difficulties. So, I've been told that if
[14:41] we take a break for a minute, we can
start, stop, and start again. and then
[14:45] maybe five to get it back online so that
people can at home can watch it. So,
[14:50] we're going to take just a couple of
minutes and Kaden's going to stop and
[14:54] start so that those that are at home can
live frame.