L.S.D Advisory Council

L.S.D. (Local Service District) Advisory Council

Your L.S.D. (Local Service District) Advisory Council has been working for you with five members elected in the Fall of 2009. Mike Bird – Chairman, Corey White – Secretary, Shirley Clayton, David Duplessis, and Tim Noel are your committee members and can each be contacted through this website. Please feel free to contact your member(s) about any issues or concerns you want to have dealt with at a regular meeting or to make arrangements to attend an upcoming meeting in person.

Some of the things already being addressed include the repairs to Highway 104 in the Burtts Corner area. This is supposed to be a temporary fix since announcements for rehabilitating this highway have been made by the province. Because of concerns around the issue of speeding vehicles, increased traffic, school bus safety and more, a request has been made to review and reduce the speed limits through the most populated section of the area. A response from the office of the Minister of Transportation states that the Maintenance and Traffic Branch has been asked to add this request in the Provincial Traffic Safety Program for review in the coming months. Further, once this evaluation has been completed, we will be sent a copy of the results and will let you know the results.

On the same matter, you may have noticed a much increased RCMP presence in the area. If you are one of those who have been stopped and ticketed for speeding, we ask you to spread the word. Our local detachment officers have and will continue to step up their patrols and if you speed, you will be caught and fined. So, please slow down and be aware of the children, the walkers and others who use this highway every day. Fines in the school zones are higher and can cost you points as well as money.

We are pleased to have dedicated officers in our area who are very responsive to this community. On the topic of the RCMP, you have a representative on the District Two Community Council Policing Committee. Meetings are held regularly and information is exchanged about concerns around local policing, Should you have issues of a general nature that you wish to bring forward, your representative can do that for you. So feel free to be in touch with a council member. Soon you will be receiving information about keeping yourself and your property safe. We have seen a reduction of property and personal crimes in this area and we will continue to see such results as long as we pay attention. It’s up to all of us to be vigilant and to report problems directly to our local RCMP Detachment.

Members of the Council recently attended an open meeting of the Rural Planning Commission and learned more about how that Commission will impact on our area. Should you have any questions on a particular property or specific plan, you can reach the Commission at 453-2956.

Other areas of representation include the Start Smart Program at KVM School, the Keswick Valley Fire Department, various local sports activities and more. Our Firefighters have been very busy over these last months and we are pleased to have new firefighters completing the essential training that makes this Department a key player in providing the essential job of protecting our property, rescuing occupants of vehicle crashes, providing education in this District and so much more. We gratefully recognize the Keswick Valley Fire Department on the great job they do and for all the hours the members put into the department and into the community Currently we are proud to have 14 level 2 NBCC firefighters and 2 NBCC level 1 firefighters, 6 Medical First Responders and 4 more who will soon complete NBCC level 1. Anyone wishing to volunteer is asked to please contact one of your local firefighters.

Funding for new equipment is sometimes hard to find and we want to acknowledge and express gratitude from our Fire Department for a major donation from Bird-Stairs (J.W. Bird and Company Limited) of Fredericton. They donated a Honda 500-gallon-per-minute pump for loading fire truck tanks for fighting fires more quickly, often at or near the site. We extend, on behalf or the community, a very big thank you to Mike Bird and the folks at Bird-Stairs for making this possible. It will make a big difference to our Fire Department and to our community.

With Summer just around the corner and with the need for activities to keep our youths involved in safe and local sports, we want to inform the Residents of Douglas of some events taking place in our community, dealing with recreation. Softball has been started! Dozens of children are already registered. The lack of facilities was an issue so, with the help of several residents, Fisher Field is being refurbished with the effort being led by the Keswick Valley Fire Department and Larry Gould. This will be a great spot for ball games again after completion of the work provided by the volunteers from the Keswick Valley Fire Department. Since the field needed major clean-up and fencing, the work is well underway and the fencing, which has all been donated by Bird-Stairs, will be installed so that the cry of “Play Ball” should be heard soon. We hope that the field will be very busy and that we can count on Moms and Dads, friends and neighbours, to come out and help with coaching, refereeing, and cheering the kids on. This is an example of communities working together for the sake of our kids and of corporate donations making a difference. Without this contribution of fencing and of the time and effort it has taken to make this happen, we would not have such a great place for developing kids and community. Thanks to all who have or will be involved.

Beginning in September, we plan to provide a monthly update here on the web page to let you know what’s new and what’s coming up. So, send us your questions, your suggestions, and your ideas via e-mail here or if you see us out and about, stop and say hello and let us know what’s on your mind. Remember, it’s our community and together we can make a difference.

Meanwhile, have a great Summer!

Go Keswick

Bringing the Community Together

L.S.D. (Local Service District) Advisory Council