March 2025 Municipal Update - Victoria-by-the-Sea
March 2025 Newsletter
From the Mayor’s Desk
Since our last newsletter a LOT has happened in our lives. We have a new Premier; a new Prime Minister and federal cabinet and we are currently in the midst of a federal election. These changes have resulted in a lot of uncertainty for our municipal government’s operations and we look forward to seeing how these changes will affect us over the coming months and years. We are certainly living in interesting times.
At our most recent Council meeting, we heard from the owners of a child care facility in Tryon who are looking to relocate their operation to Victoria. They are serving over 50 children. Parents and our local MLA Matt MacFarlane made a plea to the Victoria council members to consider how the Municipality could accommodate their needs.
At our recent Planning Board meeting, the owners of another child care facility shared information that they were discussing starting up a facility in Victoria. Along with presentations for the development of two new subdivisions, the Planning Board was provided with applications that demonstrated a lot of interest in the development of our small municipality. This news is very much in line with our desire to grow sustainably as outlined in our recently published strategic plan.
In order to move forward with these developments to support child care in our municipality that will also support families along the south shore, I have asked for a meeting with Minister Robin Croucher who is responsible for the province’s child care programs. We would like to find out how the provincial government could partner with our Municipality to accommodate the needed services. I am still waiting to hear back from the Minister and his officials.
The council considered the annual budget for the Municipality and, after making some final changes, approved the 2025-26 budget for submission to the provincial government. The budget includes a small property tax increase and a 4% increase to water and sewer rates. The increases to the property taxes are the first in several years which will be used to cover rising costs of operations while the increase in the water and sewer rates is needed for cost increases and because of the aging infrastructure along with the small number of customers on the system. Over the next few years, there may be some changes to the tax and customer bases which will impact the revenues and expenses of the Municipality. In the meantime, the council felt it was prudent to ensure the sustainability of our operations through the policies and operational decisions made during the budget deliberations.
I want to assure you that the CAO and council made every effort to keep the tax and fee increases to a minimum while ensuring our spending was as efficient as possible. I would like to thank all the residents who provided feedback on the draft budget and during the public meeting that was used to assess the options available for the council to consider.
Finally, the Council was informed that Councillor Ben Smith has resigned leaving a vacancy on the 7-member council. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ben for his contributions over the last 18 months chairing the Water and Sewer Board and as a member of the Planning Board. More information about filling the vacancy will be provided after our council meeting in April.
I remind residents to contact their council members or the Municipal Office if they have questions or suggestions for improving our municipal services. You can reach me at 902-388-7584 or via email at allenfarm17@gmail.com. For more information, please visit our website: Mayor and Council.
From the Municipal Office
The Community Organizations Regroup
Supporting the initiative of the Municipality, all community organizations are now regrouped in a round table to explore how we can better act together. This action is based on the belief that better coordination and continuous sharing of ideas will improve every partner and the Village as a whole.
The first decisions of the group are to put together a calendar of activities in the Village and to market this document in various media. There is also a project to merge the Municipality and the VBA websites to concentrate the information and reduce the costs of maintenance. A third action will be to organize several major events all along the year.
The Lighthouse Museum (Karen Smith), Victoria Business Association (Marley Anderson), the Victoria Playhouse (Pat Smith and Tyler Murnaghan, The Women’s Institute (Catherine Ferguson), the Welcome Centre (Shelley Trainor), the Victoria Historical Association (Brenda Boudreau) and the Municipality (Yves Dallaire) are all active in this new group.
A Lot on the Plate of the Planning Board
At the March 26th meeting, the Planning Board (Jean McCardle, chair, Janet Lauzon, Susan Oxley, Shelley Trainor, Martin Ruben, members) was presented with four projects. These projects are in line with three of our strategic plan’s objectives: improving the community services, creating diversified housing projects and long term sustainability.
The project of a new dwelling in the Durovin Shores Subdivision (The Visser Family) will take place this summer. This is a welcomed addition to this part of the community.
A major housing project on the Geurts Land (continuation of Wanda Street to Victoria Road) was presented by Monique Geurts. The permit application includes the subdivision of the land in 26 lots for affordable diversified housing. This exciting project is complemented by a child care facility project right next door on another parcel of the Geurts property. The operators of the Bedeque Wildflower Child Care facility presented their expansion project in the Geurts barn that could accommodate around sixty kids. The major interest of this new facility is that it would help reduce the number of parents on the South Shore waiting lists for child care as it represents a net increase in capacity.
Another project was presented by the Robert’s Group of Companies (Austin Roberts, Spencer McKinnon and Ben Andrew) who have an option on the MacDonald land off Nelson Street. This major three phase project will include a variety of housing concepts and could include community services such as child care for the new residents and a senior’s home. The promoters are looking for a rezoning of the land from agricultural to general residential.
Apart from the usual infrastructure connections, the Municipality is solicited in many ways for these projects notably for the construction of a building for community services. A business plan is currently being prepared for this by the Municipal Office.
The Water and Sewer Board Takes Matters in Hand
In the process of the adoption of the budget, the Water and Sewer Corporation’s Board (Eric Gilbert, chair, Ian Dennison, Henry Dunsmore, Linda Gilbert and Martin Ruben, members) had to make a recommendation to Council about the W&S revenues and expenses for the coming fiscal year. Our municipal bylaw is clear about the fact that the revenues of the W&S infrastructure have to cover all expenses of the Corporation.
The Board is unanimously recommending a 4% increase of the general water and sewer fees for 25-26 and the increase from 50% to 75% of the frontage fees for empty lots suitable for development. Starting April 1st, the costs of sewage tank pumping will also be the responsibility of house owners. This will help cover the increasing expenses of our utilities and will create an emergency fund for urgent repairs.
The Council unanimously accepted the W&S Board recommendations.
What Are the Impacts of the 2025-26 Budget For You
Apart from the W&S increased fees, the Municipality also adjusted for the first time in the last three years the provincial tax rates. Overall a slight increase of an average of 3% will be added to your 25-26 provincial tax invoice.
Otherwise, the Municipal Office’s expenses had to be reduced to cope with the coming year’s financial situation. The Office at Old School will now be opened three days a week instead of four although the total number of hours of opening remains the same. The Municipal Office will now be open from Tuesday till Thursday of each week from 08h30 to 12h00 and from 13h00 till 16h30.
A New Era for the Fire Protection Services
After many months of negotiations, the Municipality has agreed to a 2025-2028 contract for fire protection and first medical response services with the to-be-established Victoria Private Fire Company.
At the initiative of James Boulter and Allen Marshall, the Victoria Fire Brigade will be transformed into a new private fire company (one of fifteen in PEI) and will render the same services that they use to offer to the Fire District and the Village of Victoria.
The Municipality unanimously accepted this contract at the last Council meeting on the basis that the quality of the services will improve in accordance with the Fire Marshal recommendations (see Fire Marshal report on the municipal website). The new private company will manage its own affairs independently from the Municipal Office and will make regular reports to the Council.
To make this happen, the Council agreed to transfer for free the ownership of the Fire Hall and all the equipment to the new company. It is also understood that the new company and the Municipality will collaborate on new capital projects in future years.
This new agreement puts an end to years of stranded relations between the two organizations.
Beautification of the Village: An Encouraging First Step
You may remember that the Council adopted a Dangerous, Hazardous and Unsightly Premises Bylaw in 2024 that came into effect in 2025. Since then, nine properties have been identified as potential opportunities for beautification. Of that number, five owners of six properties have already signaled the Municipal Office with their intention to improve either the security or the appearance of their property. In most cases, these owners will benefit from a 150 day extension period to put their plans to fruition.
This 66% positive result is encouraging but it is not enough to comply with the bylaw. The Council will decide at its next meeting how to deal with the remaining owners that are encouraged to contact the Municipal Office to prepare plans to resolve their situation.
Tourism Organizations Roundtable in Victoria
On March 25th, a great number of tourism associated organizations of Victoria and of the surrounding areas met under the umbrella of the Central Coastal Tourism Partnership who organised the meeting at the OH Victoria Hotel.
Many ideas were shared, mainly around the necessity to better coordinate and inform visitors. The meeting made clear that the coming 2025 season should be exceptional in terms of the number of visitors from other canadian provinces and also from the United-States benefiting from a good money exchange rate.
Amar Seafood Gets a Building Permit From the Province
Following last year’s rezoning, development permit and environmental assessment processes, Amar Seafood officially received a provincial building permit. The company is currently preparing the detailed plans for the construction of the buildings and the landscaping of their site.
The company says that the current situation with the instability of the international trade tariffs do not put the project at risk because most of the sales are currently made in Canada in the Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal markets. Scott Travers, Amar CEO, reiterates Amar’s will to make the most out of this project for the community.
That’s all for this month! See past issues at www.RMVictoria.com/newsletters
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Victoria Historic Schoolhouse
730 Victoria Road, Victoria, PE,
C0A 1J0, Canada