NSPE Commission puts plans on hold

The denial of municipal funding by Truro and the County of Colchester to the Nova Scotia Provincial Exhibition Commission will have an impact on projects planned for this year.

“It will definitely affect our ability to move forward with any infrastructure plans that we would have,” facility manager Joe Nicholson said.

The commission had requested $200,000 from each municipality. Nicholson said the bulk of those requests was intended for upgrades to Exhibition Hall, the building that used to house the Cobequid Spartans gymnastics club. Officials had also hoped to upgrade the facility’s water system.

Nicholson said he hopes provincial funding can be arranged following the election, which could then prompt municipal funding.

However, both Mayor Bill Mills of Truro and Colchester Mayor Christine Blair, said it will take more than just provincial funding to win approval for municipal money.

Besides dealing with grant requests of more than $500,000 this year, Mills said, town council took issue with the fact that the commission never filed a police report following the suspected theft in recent years of tens of thousands of dollars from an ATM at the Truro Raceway,

Mills said council did not want to be put in a position of explaining why it had made a large funding contribution to the commission if it was ever later determined “… that there was some questionable conduct as to where that money went.”

Blair said that issue was also raised at Colchester County council. But the primary reason why the county refused to provide funding was because the commission never provided a detailed proposal. Both mayors agreed the facility should be supported by provincial funding first and, also, that the commission should have municipal representation on its board.