Oxford & Infrastructure: Jobs done, challenges remain

At the first Fall meeting of the Oxford Town Council on September 11th, a special borrowing provision was approved to cover the purchase of a new Fire Truck for the Oxford Volunteer Fire Department (OVFD) and to replace the Town’s Public Works shed, which was deemed by the insurance company as uninsurable. The provision allowed the town to take on “up to” $1-million in new debt for those needs. At the following regular council meeting, that amount was reduced to $900-thousand, when the Oxford Volunteer Fire Department Association delivered a cheque for $100-thousand to be used toward the purchase of a new vehicle, using money from the association’s own fundraising efforts.

It’s expected that the new fire truck will be in the hands of the OVFD before the end of October. Look for a story on that in the coming weeks.

With municipal elections underway, the 2020–2024 term in office comes to an end for the Council led by Mayor Greg Henley, with Deputy Mayor Arnold MacDonald, Councillors Carla Black, Olivia Canning-Sweet, Brenton Colborne, Paul Jones, and Chrystal MacNutt. Coming into their positions ten months after the COVID-19 pandemic began, this council navigated the frequently changing and sometimes contradictory (and always controversial) public health measures mandated by the provincial and federal governments… a challenging scenario for municipal representatives. Council also saw the resignation of Wade Adshade midway through the term following 18 years serving as councillor, necessitating a by-election in which Olivia Canning was acclaimed for the remaining two years of his term.

This council inherited a challenging financial portfolio, as outgoing Mayor Trish Stewart and the previous council had announced restrictions on spending and put some services — such as the Arena — into “maintenance mode” as public events were curtailed due to the pandemic. Cuts to staffing saw former Recreation Director Corey Skinner leave his position, as all recreational programming was likewise left in limbo.

Oxford had suffered another hit to services, as the local library was closed in July, 2020, due to structural issues with the building in which it operated on Water Street. By September a plan was in the works to re-house the library in the former Oxford Journal building on Rideau St. The incoming Council was able to open the Library the following July, though it would be another year before public health measures were relaxed sufficiently for the official opening.

Over the past four years, perhaps the most challenging issue —apart from paying for needed infrastructure such as water line replacement and paving — was the seemingly never-ending review of police services. With Oxford being one player in the joint agreement that included Cumberland County and the provincial Justice Department, councillors and committee members spent countless hours attempting to get at the root of the significant bill Oxford receives for RCMP coverage. With a small victory that was a reduction in the number of service hours Oxford was required to pay for officer presence, the result was negligible as annual pay rises and unionization of the mounties left the town writing pretty much the same cheque once again. Another effort to reign in police spending was sidetracked by the provincial government, which froze all modifications to the police services agreement while it undertook a province-wide review in the wake of the report on the RCMP’s handling of the Portapique mass killing.

Speaking of infrastructure…. while behind-the-scenes upgrades to computer monitoring systems of the water supply, a videoconferencing system for the streaming of town council meetings to the internet, and upgrades to ageing public works equipment proceeded as needed, the town was able to pave Duke Street, though that came at a significant cost to town coffers. A considerable effort to bring spending under control, coupled with unexpected new monies from the provincial government transfers to municipalities, enabled this council to sock away money in the capital reserve fund, a hard line requirement for any matching funds from other levels of government on big-ticket projects.

Putting the reserves back into a stable situation enabled Council to move ahead with the recently-completed Foundry Street project, which saw new water lines installed and new pavement laid on the South Side street. Even that was not without controversy, as other residents questioned the $1.6-million project when they felt Main Street was the more urgent infrastructure need. Foundry St. had gone forty years without infrastructure improvements and had come to occupy a considerable amount of crew time for public works attending water breaks.

Main Street, while unquestionably in poor shape on the surface, is holding up unexpectedly well below ground… with few water line issues. When it is done, it will also be a significantly more expensive project than was Foundry Street, given the length of the section to be repaired. Ultimately it comes down to what the town could afford to do at any given time. Main Street, according to public statements by Mayor Henley, is the next major infrastructure project that will be tackled, when reserves are once again built up to acceptable levels.

The face of Oxford in these past four years has undergone significant change as well. Apart from a considerable increase in population (though no official census has been performed to confirm the observation), mainly tied to the workforce brought in by Oxford Frozen Foods, so too has the housing situation. New developments such as Seven Lee Way, off of Little River Road; Meadow Lane across from the OFF plant; housing developments in South Oxford; and now we have indications of more developments coming to the upper part of Main Street and a potentially large development within town limits on the other side of the Trans-Canada Highway connector. The new housing in particular has been a welcome boost to town coffers, with deed transfer taxes bringing in unplanned revenue.

Future developments in Oxford, particularly as it relates to housing, are somewhat restricted due to aged sections of the water supply system. As the Horton Street and Peel Street housing project progressed, water pressure to those new houses off the Horton Street line was practically nonexistent, requiring the tapping of the Pugwash Road line to compensate. That spurred an unexpected consultation with the Dillon engineering firm to assess the state of the overall water system, known as the WaterCAD study. Completed in the summer, that now has an impact on future connections to the lines, with each new subscriber now having to be put into a computer model to measure the probable impact on the system. With each inquiry to the computer system costing the town money, the town decided to attempt to bundle multiple connection requests into each request, reducing the cost to the individual or developer making the petition to tap into the line. WaterCAD also served to identify where future infrastructure work on water line upgrades is likely to be needed to maintain adequate water pressure as neighbourhoods grow.

In less than a week, Oxford residents will know which of the current crop of councillors and mayor will stay or depart. The incoming council will have no shortage of challenges to address, but they will have a much improved financial picture that should allow for work to be done on the infrastructure and services that remain on the agenda.

What are your views on the past four years of Oxford Town Council? What are you hoping to see coming over the next four years and beyond?