Rothesay’s Mayor Reflects On 2021

The mayor of Rothesay says there were several highlights for her throughout the past year.

Nancy Grant was re-elected for her second term as mayor during the May municipal elections.

Grant said the first highlight came in April when council approved the town’s new municipal plan.

The document will guide development for the community over the next 10 years, she said.

“I think the thing that we’re all really excited about is the density incentives for affordable and age-friendly housing. This is a first for Rothesay and developers are beginning to take us up on this,” said Grant.

Rothesay, which has predominantly been a community of single-family homes, has seen its housing stock continue to diversify, said Grant.

She pointed to a second condo building at Central Park which is nearly complete, a recently-approved 48-unit apartment building on Chapel Road, and a large development underway at the end of Dobbin Street.

The next highlight, Grant said, came in August when the provincial and federal governments announced a combined $15.8 million for a new wastewater treatment plant.

“We’ve had this on our books for a number of years. I think the whole process was accelerated by the flooding of 2018 and 2019, so we have needed this for a long time,” she said.

Preliminary design work is underway and construction is anticipated to begin by mid-2022, said Grant.

The mayor said another one of the highlights for her was the recently-announced local governance reforms, which will see the town’s boundaries remain the same.

“On the regional collaboration piece, there are going to be big changes to the regional service commissions with enhanced files and responsibilities, and certainly we will be engaged in those conversations to see how that all plays out,” said Grant.

Other highlights for Grant included flood mitigation work on Maliseet Drive and Pickett Lane, the seeding of a new ballfield at Well Park, the reopening of the Rothesay Hive, and the creation of a new council standing committee on climate change adaptation.

Intersection upgrades coming in 2022

Looking ahead to 2022, Grant said residents will see big changes at two major intersections in the town.

The first will be at Hampton Road and Grove Avenue, where traffic signals will be installed.

“We did a traffic study of the streets around the [Rothesay] Common and the intersection was deemed to be the most critical intersection,” said Grant.

Traffic lights will also be installed at the intersection of Spruce Street and Clark Road. Spruce Street was recently extended across Clark Road to provide traffic access to the new development at the end of Dobbin Street.

Grant said the town also hopes to complete the second phase of the Turnbull Court sewer renewal project and install outdoor pickleball courts at Arthur Miller Field.

In addition, she said the town will once again apply for provincial funding to help resurface “the worst road in town” — Rothesay Road from the golf club to Fox Farm Road.

“The last three years we have not received funding, we have been turned down,” said Grant. “It is a provincially-designated highway and we’re hoping the fourth time we will be able to get this funding and get this project done.”

Grant said the greatest challenge remains the aging Rothesay Arena, which needs either “very major” improvements or complete replacement.

She said council is in the process of setting goals and priorities and will be setting a path forward for the arena.

“That’s really about all I can say about that at the present time, but something has to be done,” said Grant.