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	I thought I had given the Steering committee for the Proposed Forest Street Heritage Conservation District, enough educated opinions from numerous heritage conservationists, to allow them to make an informed decision when it came to approving the policies I helped develop. And they did On June 20,2007 the steering committee approved Chapter 5 dealing with--The Service [Street] Infrastructure--- there was only one dissenting vote. A month later and things have changed it seems the whole committee now wants to retract that approval WHAT HAPPENED---WHAT WENT WRONG Why are they trying to discreet me the guy that wants to save the heritage streetscape. Why are many of the local heritage people against what I am saying. Don't forget Retention, Presevation, restoration of the historic streetscape and service infrastructure is my focus. This all lies on public Town Owned Land
	Town Clerk, CAO - Mr. Jeff Gushue........................................... Mr. Gushue please pass this to Council prior to the August 2007-- Council Meeting. Thank You.................................................. July 20, 2007 To The Mayor and Members of Yarmouth Town Council............. I would like to formally complain to council, regarding what I feel is undue political influence on the steering committee for the proposed Forest Street Heritage Conservation District........................... Councilor Dares took it upon herself to announce that she and other members of the Council felt that the restrictions our committee was advising be placed on the new proposed district ,were too strong. In essence Councilor Dares stated that preservation of the Victorian streetscape, original service infrastructure and the protection of the 19th century ornamental tree plantings [all on Town land] were the problem and that we would not likely be able to form a heritage district if these protections remained............................................... As a result of Chair Woman...Martha Cassidy's negative comments being added to the mix, and obvious behind the scenes discussions ,the committee began the process of dismantling all the protections I had formulated to protect a public asset, the intact Victorian streetscape of Forest-Prince-Williams Street area........................................................................ After all the talk and the endless tourism meetings upon meeting and dollar after dollar thrown into the growing tourism product development pot, in the never ending quest to draw people to our town, this is now nothing short of pathetic............................. Heritage tourism is one of the strongest segments of the tourism market.................... We have an intact Victorian streetscape a ready made, a here and now sustainable authentic tourist attraction and it is time for you to speak up because this will soon go the way of our once prosperous historic seaport................ Some of the smart remarks around the table last night were,..........'' are we to dress up in period costumes''................. ''I'm not going to drive a horse and buggy'',.......................''we are not going back to dirt roads,that's for sure'',........... ''This is a Yarmouth plan we don't want outsiders involved,''....... etc.etc.etc............................. It was blatantly obvious that many around the table had held private discussions amongst themselves before the steering committee meeting..................... The people that made these comments, could surely benefit from the knowledge of some well educated consultants.......................................... I have made several attempts to have our committee recommend to Council that they bring in Ekistics Planning and Design, a company which has assisted Halifax, St. Johns. NFLD, Moncton ,Charlottetown and developed a heritage strategy for the Town of Truro. This company could make a presentation to Council at a public meeting to inform the people of Yarmouth, that we do have something unique................................... We do have something that deserves preservation for the benefit of our Town, in the present and into the future. In fact we do have something that can be central to the social and economic well being of the town..................... I have contacted dozens of heritage conservation experts around the world.................. The consensus is that our Victorian streetscape, original service infrastructure, the 19th century ornamental tree plantings along with a cohesive neighborhood of Victorian homes, in an urban setting, is unique in today's modern world and may possibly be the only such area surviving intact................... During the steering committee meeting of June 20,2007, I asked that we postpone our deliberations regarding the Town owned land in the proposed district. This being protection of the town trees ,the service infrastructure, the ditch and culvert storm water drainage system, the sidewalks, the width of the road surface and restoration and maintenance of Town's portion of the proposed district , until a consultant could be brought in to speak to us............................ This motion was defeated, yet the policy statements I had proposed concerning the above were passed and sent on to the Town Engineer and the CAO. .................... The one dissenting vote was Chairwoman Martha Cassidy who apparently at that point decided to resign but did not inform us of her intentions until recently.................. We have here a resource which is clearly sustainable that if handled properly can draw educated well traveled people to our town........................... I am asking that Yarmouth Town Council caution Councilor Dares regarding undue interference in a committee's deliberations................................. I'm requesting that Council consider having Ekistics Planning and Design, hold a public information session attended by all heritage related committees,the Planner, the Heritage Officer, the Council and the general public............................. Finally it is my firm opinion that if the Town of Yarmouth does not take steps to preserve the heritage value of the publicly owned land [The Historic Streetscape] in the Forest Heritage Conservation District, then there is absolutely no reason any property owner in this area should accept any restrictions on their land in the name of heritage conservation..................................... I have attached Martha Cassidy's resignation for your interest....................................... Regards Rod Hemeon.
	Martha Cassidy..... Resignation and explanation..................... To:........ Members of the Forest Street Heritage Conservation District Steering Committee From:.... Martha Cassidy Date:...... June 27, 2007 .........I apologize to all of you for my outburst at the June 20, meeting of the Steering Committee........... When the public meeting was held last November, it was obvious that there were several approaches to the concept of heritage preservation......... It also seemed obvious that many of those interested in participating in the steering committee were not typical of the majority of property owners within the proposed district. Attitudes of property owners seemed to range from “Go away, leave us alone.” to “The district should look like it did when it was established..............” Although ambivalent regarding the heritage district idea, I felt that I needed to understand more about the rationale for such a designation, and that the best way to do that was to participate in the deliberations of the committee. I also thought that it might be possible to find compromises that would benefit all the property owners without depriving them of the rights and privileges usually associated with ownership............ This no longer seems possible........... Throughout the time I have been involved, I have sought ideas and opinions from property owners who own property within the proposed district. I did not seek people who were ambivalent like me. Instead I looked for people who were keen on the idea......... Instead, I often heard the opposite. Some property owners wondered, since houses in the area had been built over 100 years (about 1850 – 1950), which era was to be considered the benchmark. One person explained that the past was preparation for the present, which is preparation for the future. They said that the cars of the 50’s would be of little use traveling back and forth to Halifax as often as we do and that not only would they inconvenience the driver but also the other people on the road at the same time. Driveways in the area are not really suited to 2-car families, so should we force people to only own 1 car? Another wondered why anyone would want to freeze an area to a time when polio, meningitis and TB were often deadly, racial and gender prejudice was rampant and many of the most beautiful homes hid secrets of domestic abuse which were carefully ignored. During the last weekend in June, I have spoken to a resident of the Collins “P”, two realtors and a former resident of the proposed district. Their comments were extremely negative. I reiterate that I did not seek them out......................... In fact, they sought me....... I did not seek to be Chair of the Committee but agreed to act because I know how. I now think I’ve not done a very good job................ There have been few compromises and fewer attempts to understand the needs and concerns of those property owners who are not particularly interested in being part of a Heritage Conservation District. There are certainly sections of the proposed district that could quickly and easily be designated. But the mandate of the Committee was to find a way to make the whole district a designated heritage district. That, in my view, requires kind consideration and willingness to compromise. I intend to continue to serve on the Steering Committee on behalf of those I believe to be the majority of property owners. It is time, however, for the position of Chair to be occupied by someone else. I wrote this on the above date and planned on discussing it at the July meeting, however only one member of the Steering Committee has replied to my request for advice which I sent out on July 3 so please be prepared to select a new Chair, as the first order of business, at the July meeting............Martha Cassidy.............

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	. ...Martha Cassidy.....Letter Regarding Her interview With The local newspaper The Vanguard.............. Esther.. Please copy this information to all Councillors, both Town and Municipal............................... Linda................ I do not have contact information for either Mark Connell or Jack deGooyer. Please see that they get this........................... TO: Members of the proposed Forest Street Heritage Conservation District Steering Committee................ FROM: Martha Cassidy, Chair........................ Michael Gorman has misrepresented virtually everything I said to him.............................. 1- I specifically told him that the topic of a required majority of property owners had not been discussed formally. I explained that such a discussion would need to include a decision regarding whether the majority, whatever the percentage, would be of all the property owners or only those attending a public meeting. And I also told him that the Minutes of the meeting at which such discussion took place would indicate that the members AGREED. 2- I specifically explained that in my experience, the only time when 50% +1 was an acceptable majority was when all those voting had been elected or in a formal election such as a Municipal, Provincial or Federal election. 3- I specifically told him that I had not been encouraging property owners to tell me their decision regarding whether or not they were in favour of the proposed district until all the particulars had been determined by the Steering Committee and whatever other bodies were entitled to have input. 4- I bent over backwards to present the members of this Committee as sincere, hard working, conscientious people who were deliberating carefully over all parts of the proposed Plan and that THAT was the reason why we were a little behind the tentative schedule prepared for the Committee by staff. Now I need input from the members of the Committee. How shall this misrepresentation be handled? 1-This letter could be sent to Michael................ 2- I could send a somewhat calmer Letter to the Editor refuting the article...................... 3- I could do nothing. This latter does not appeal to me but I am FURIOUS................ And if any of you have a suggestion about how you think this should be handled, I am sure we'd all like to know it. In case you're wondering, I didn't even tell him that I personally think 80% is too low. Just imagine how he'd have written about that!!! It really bothers me that he seems not to have heard me, despite the fact that I emphasized over and over that any decision the Committee makes, regardless of individual objections, becomes the Committee's recommendation to the Heritage Advisory Committee............Martha Cassidy

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	. ...Yarmouth Town Council Meeting.....Thursday.. August.. 9...... 7pm.....Will We Get Answers.......Can We do Some Interviews.......Friday Will Be Really Interesting....a Rare.. BIRD.. Sighting...I believe will take place........I'll try to get a photo......

rodhemeon@aol.com   . . . . . .CLICK NOW........

.....well hang on to your Hats.........IT GETS WORSE