Public and municipality on same page at session
Municipality of Barrington’s budget public input session held Jan. 23
Shag Harbour businessman Tyler Nickerson makes his selections of priorities during the public input session on Jan. 23 hosted by the Municipality of Barrington as part of their budget planning process.
It appears the public is on the same page when it comes to where the Municipality of Barrington should be focused going into the 2018/19 budget planning process.
About 20 people representing a varied cross-section of the community attended the informal public input workshop hosted by the municipality on Jan. 23 as a way to gather feedback from residents.
Working in groups, participants were asked three questions:
• What services do you feel are es- sential to you, the area and future development?
• What do you believe are our best assets now?
• What assets would you like in Barrington?
There were “no wrong answers” as lists created by each working group were compiled at the end of each question, with participants identifying their top three priorities for each question at the end of the session.
Identified as the top three priorities for what services participants felt are essential to themselves, the area and future development were recreation programs, services and opportunities; tourism, including Barrington Passage businesswoman Leah Swaine considers her selection of priorities while fellow entrepreneur Tyler Nickerson bends the ear of Barrington Warden Eddie Nickerson during the public input session on Jan. 23 as part of their budget planning process for the Municipality of Barrington. Also pictured is Coun. Murray Atkinson. accommodations such as hotels, motels and campgrounds, signage and promotion; and medical services, including family physician access.
“Those are the ones that that we probably hear the most about when it comes to services on a regular basis and ones that council looks at more than anything,” said CAO Rob Frost, who facilitated the workshop.
High-speed Internet access was also identified as a top priority by participants. Frost said the municipality, in co-operation with the Western Regional Enterprise Network (WREN) and other municipal units, has a big grant application in to the federal government. “If that comes through, we will be doing some work,” he said.
Accommodations, a recreation centre and a medical centre were the top three future assets identified by participants, which “matches” with the services identified and “matches very well with some of the discussions that council has been having,” said Frost. “When we talk capital projects, it’s medical centre, recreation facilities, and we always talk about accommodations. Accommodations are a little bit outside of what we can do but there are ways we can promote that need and help pave the road figuratively and literally” to help make it happen.
Frost said the information gathered at the workshop will be compiled and discussed further by council during the upcoming budget deliberations. He said he expects there will be 10 to 12 budgetplanning sessions in the upcoming months, noting all council meetings are open to the public.
The 2018/19 budget is expected to be finalized and approved by the last week of April or the first of May. The 2017/18 budget was $8.8 million.