Oct. 19 council meeting looks at boundary adjustment that would grow community
The Nackawic-Millville Rural Community Council heard a presentation from Central Hainesville resident Jeanette Schroder about a proposal to the Local Governance Commission.
The proposal requests a boundary adjustment to transition the Hainesville area from the rural community of Central York to Nackawic-Millville.
Schroder said the initiative began with a recent change in fire dispatch notifications that shifted primary response for Hainesville from the Millville Fire Station to the Keswick Fire Station.
The proposal said that because Hainesville is significantly closer to Millville, this change created concerning response time delays for emergency services.
Subsequent community discussions revealed that our administrative boundaries do not reflect our actual community habits and service alignments, which naturally align with Nackawic-Millville.
Schroder said that, with their current alignment with Central York, Hainesville residents get very little mutual benefit. She said she has talked to other residents and learned they didn’t realize they aren’t part of Nackawic-Millville.
Schroder said the first step, per the act, is to propose to the community they want to join. For the proposal, she had to gather 25 signatures (she got 27).
“Not a single person I encountered didn’t not want to be a part of Nackawic-Millville,” she said.
“Destination Nackawic is promoting the area and Crabbe Mountain is actually featured in a Destination Nackawic video,” said Schroder.
She said Central York is not promoting anything in the Hainesville area.
“We are deeply connected here and that doesn’t happen with Central York.”
She said approximately 320-350 residents in the area, including the Crabbe Mountain Chalet community and the Crabbe Mountain resort, rely heavily on Millville for rapid-fire and first-responder protection.
The plan would include consultation and public engagement, such as door-to-door resident outreach, Crabbe Mountain Chalet Community Engagement, and local business consultations.
“We are very connected with Nackawic-Millville so it is logical that we would be a part of Nackawic-Millville. The heart of the community is where the kids go to school and that is in Nackawic.”
She said many of their interactions, socials, education, and extracurriculars don’t align with Central York at all.
“Our area does not receive any support or participation and yet this is where our property tax dollars go, without any benefit to other residents in this area.”
Deputy Mayor MacFarlane said most of these points were included in a report that went to government six years ago, when they were developing boundary rationales.
“This concept is not new but thank you for your presentation. It makes clear sense to us and has for years. I have no doubt you will get full support from council,” said MacFarlane.
The proposal lists items that show core alignment with Nackawic-Millville such as:
Emergency and Fire Services: Millville Fire Station provides a much faster response time (15 minutes) than Keswick (35-45 minutes).
Medical Services: Many residents use medical services and lab drop-off in Nackawic. As the medical clinic in Nackawic expands, our residents will continue to wait without access to medical services outside a walk-in clinic.
Education: Local children attend elementary, middle, and high schools in Nackawic and ride Nackawic buses.
Extracurriculars and Recreation
Community and Wellness
Commercial and Social Hubs
Local Businesses
The proposed boundaries would include:
Boundary to Route 104: Central Hainesville Road (Central Hainesville) extending down to Lower Hainesville
Grub Road: Connecting back to Route 104 to the boundary to close the loop
In concluding her presentation, Schroder said there are significant reasons to realign the Hainesville boundary from Central York to Nackawic-Millville.
In her discussion with permanent residents, she noted a strong desire to switch rural communities and confusion, since many residents’ interactions, socials, education, and extracurriculars don’t align with Central York.
Schroder said their area receives no support or participation, yet property tax dollars go there with no benefit to residents.
She asked council to take action in the Nackawic-Millville Rural Community to move forward this motion from permanent residents, with support from the area’s part-time residents, to the Commission for a formal change of area from Central York to Nackawic-Millville.
Councillor Trail moved the motion, seconded by Councillor Clark, to accept the proposal and take this request forward to local government. Councillor Graham amended the motion to include Councillor Clark’s suggestion that it include the area to the end of the school bus route.
