Bowen Bulletin

Last week the Cape Roger Curtis (CRC) developers filed a subdivision application with the municipality. I haven’t seen it yet but I am very curious. As some of you may already know CRC is a 640-acre parcel of land on the southwest tip of Bowen. The developers who own it recently went to some lengths to have it considered for a very large comprehensive development. Since that proposal was turned down there has been somepressure on the owners to get a subdivision application filed in time to prevent any possible rezoning of the property. After an owner submits a subdivision application the municipality is constrained by law from rezoning the land for a period of one year. After the defeat of the proposed comprehensive plan the clock was ticking.
The interesting thing about this application is that it can be one of two things. It can be a sincere effort to create the best possible subdivision within the constraints of the current zoning or it can be a negotiating move. If the developers are sincere they will create a generous waterfront area to appeal to prospective purchasers who would be looking at the upland lots. Conversely, if waterfront access is restricted so that one or two more waterfront lots can be squeezed in at the expense of the rest of the neighbourhood then we will know that the owner is setting the stage for a possible rezoning. The now dead comprehensive plan was nothing but theatre. Now we’re either getting down to the real negotiations or we will see what will probably be the last time on Bowen that a large parcel of land is simply chopped up into ten-acre lots.
Meanwhile, back in Snug Cove plans for expanding the sewer system have become somewhat convoluted. We have a giant pretend cheque for $400,000 that represents a grant that was to help cover the cost of upgrading the treatment plant. Our application included all kinds of things and the total cost of it all was supposed to be under $800,000 so it looked quite affordable. Now the costs look more like $1,700,000 and that doesn’t include extending the pipes required to pick-up the sewage or pumps to push the sewage up hills. We applied for another grant to cover the collection system but we didn’t get it. Now we’ve applied for another one to supplement the one that we did get. The problem seems to be that we are overly dependent on infrastructure grants that may or may not ever materialize. And we really can’t just let this one go around in circles for a few more years. Senior’s housing, affordable housing, community facilities, redevelopment of Snug Cove and the sale of the surplus lands are all dependent on upgrading the sewer.
Up at the school the all-weather playing field is absolutely, positively going ahead. Monday night council gave their final blessing and now we will see it take shape over the summer.
In my last editorial I spoke of the need to attract green collar light industry. One of my readers dropped by to explain to me that we can’t expect to attract businesses; we simply have to accommodate the business people that we already have. Now I’m wondering how many commuters we have who go to town to work in their own small shops. The theory is that it would be better for everybody if we could supply the infrastructure to accommodate micro-manufacturing, assembly and processing operations on the island. So the question is “Do we have enough people who fit into this category to make a light industrial park feasible?” As much as that sounds like a rhetorical question, I’m serious. If the prospect of moving your business to Bowen has any appeal to you please let me know. This is one of those situations where we simply don’t have enough data to make an informed decision.
The municipality has hired a new Chief Administrative Officer. He starts in mid July and one can only hope that he realizes what he is getting into. Looking at his history he certainly looks like the right man for the job. The job that he is leaving to come here was CAO of a town just slightly larger than Bowen in New Brunswick. During his three years there the comments that I found about him said that he was a workaholic who specialized in applying for federal grant money. This sounds like a marriage made in heaven. In some respects it should be fun for him. His last town was old and had a declining population. Here he has a thriving, growing community that is trying to balance growth with retention of lifestyle. We wish him well as he adjusts to our very eclectic population.