Ferry Breakdowns an Ongoing Issue for Grand Manan

Grand Manan Village Council recently held their regular meetings for the month of April 2024 at the Village Council Chambers. The meeting covered a range of topics including community events, infrastructure projects, and environmental initiatives.t.

One significant discussion point was the annual Island Fest, with council members considering transforming it into a series of events spread over the summer months to provide a diverse festival experience.

"We've had some informal discussion about where we're going to go with Island Fest," said Mayor Bonnie Morse. "There's been some challenges with it the long weekend in August because it falls up against a couple of other major festivals on the mainland, and we tend to lose people, and it's hard to attract people to come during that weekend. We've talked about some different dates, but it was getting hard to find a date that was workable. So one of the suggestions recently was maybe instead of having one weekend dedicated to a festival, have the events, but have them spaced out over the summer so that there's something going on at different times on different weekends."

Plans for an online community events calendar were proposed to keep residents informed about upcoming activities.

The Solid Waste Committee provided an update on the Food Cycler program, aimed at reducing food waste and promoting sustainable practices. Residents expressed satisfaction with the program's effectiveness in diverting food waste from landfills.

Transportation challenges related to the ferry service connecting the island to the mainland were also discussed, highlighting concerns over recent mechanical breakdowns and service reliability during peak travel times.

"The mechanical breakdowns were a bit of a wake-up call, and I think that's something that we need to focus a little bit more on is the extended breakdowns," said Mayor Morse. "The more we get talking about it, the more I think about the people in February sitting in the parking lot for a long duration of time. Unfortunately, it was relatively mild. But if that's minus 20 or minus 30, sitting in a vehicle for eight hours in February just isn't... It's not practical and it's not a solution. So I think that's one of the things I'd like to put on our list to be dealing with with the province and Coastal [Transport} is what happens in those situations. How can we find accommodation for people who maybe don't have the financial means to go somewhere if the ferry is not leaving till 2:00 in the morning?" 

Council also addressed a request for a variance from Greenfield Construction regarding work at North Head, clarifying their lack of authority to grant variances but expressing no opposition to the project given its unique circumstances.