Council also covers fire enforcement, municipal fees, grant rules and 2027 tax reform
The cost of early arena ice, tighter fire enforcement, and changes to municipal policies and provincial property taxes were among the issues before Hartland council on July 14.
High price for early ice at the “New Barn”
“The recommendation tonight is not to reject early ice permanently,” CAO Julie Stockford told council as they reviewed the financial and operational risks of starting the season several weeks earlier.
The Day & Ross Community Centre will continue to follow the regular Thanksgiving weekend ice schedule this year after the administration compared the Sept. 1 and Sept. 18 opening dates with the existing 2026 schedule.
The Sept. 18 option carried estimated costs of $35,293 and a projected net impact of $20,188. For a Sept. 1 opening, the report projected approximately $27,000 in revenue, $72,000 in costs and a “net impact of about $44,000”, Stockford told council. Neither option was included in Hartland’s approved 2026 budget, and the arena is already facing approximately $10,000 in unbudgeted Zamboni repairs.
Stockford said building ice during warmer weather requires several employees and can take three to four weeks. A Sept. 1 opening would require the refrigeration plant to begin operating in early August, while recreation staff remain responsible for the pool, ballfields, outdoor facilities, and summer programming.
A 2025 NB Power outage caused part of the ice surface to lose its seal to the pad, creating problems throughout the season. If that happened again, repainting alone would cost about $5,000 before labour, electricity and the cost of rebuilding the surface were considered.
“Administration feels that maybe we can baby step it – do it in stages. Meet halfway next year and in 2028, mid-September.”
Coun. George Boone said the cost could not be recovered through ordinary ice rentals. “Unless you’re going to charge about $550 an hour for ice, and that’s booking 22 ice slots per week for all of September, you can’t break even.”
Coun. Jason Smith moved that Hartland retain its Thanksgiving target for 2026 and consider an earlier opening, possibly Sept. 25 or 26, as part of the 2027 budget and operational planning process. The motion passed.
Tax reform raises budget concerns
“If property taxes do what they did a few years ago and go scandously high, it’s the municipality that’s going to be penalized, not (the province).” The comment came as CAO Stockford discussed the 2027 provincial property-tax reforms—particularly, the introduction of a local rate stabilizer.
“The stated purpose,” explained CAO Stockford, “is to make property taxes more stable, by reducing the automatic impact of increasing property assessments on annual tax bills. The key change is the introduction of a local rate stabilizer.”
When market assessments rise, she said, the stabilizer will first lower the municipal rate, limiting the revenue Hartland would otherwise receive from that growth.
“The municipal tax rate will first be adjusted downward,” Stockford explained to council. “The tax rate that council has set will be dropped, and then council will have to justify if they choose to increase it back up to where it was.”
Council questioned how the change would affect Hartland’s ability to maintain services and explain future rate decisions to residents.
“It’s smoke and mirrors. It’s however you want to display it, but the cost is the cost,” said Coun. Boone.
“So it’s on the municipality, and not provincial then,” commented Coun. Charlie Webber.
“Which makes the municipality the back-up,” added the Mayor.
“We are supposed to set our budget then set the tax rate accordingly,” said Stockford. “But everybody knows if we set the tax rate according to what we needed, nobody could afford to pay anyway.”
She added that Hartland-specific financial projections will be released as more information becomes available. At the time of the meeting, the province was accepting feedback on proposed regulations until July 31.
“We’ll have to draft something for our community so they understand,” concluded Coun. Smith.
New enforcement path for recurring fire offences
An amendment to Hartland’s Fire Prevention and Protection Bylaw received first reading.
The changes deal with enforcement and penalties rather than the town’s burning rules. General violations would fall under Category E of New Brunswick’s Provincial Offences Procedure Act, with fines ranging from $240 to $5,200.
Failure to obey a court order would be treated as a Category F offence, carrying a range of $240 to $10,200.
“The main issue is not simply the dollar value of a fine,” Hartland CAO and Clerk Julie Stockford said. “It’s having a legally sound enforcement path for repeat or ongoing violations… continued non-compliance.”
Each day a violation continues, or each substantially similar occurrence, could be treated as a separate offence when supported by evidence. The provision could apply to repeated nuisance smoke, prohibited burning or continued non-compliance following written warnings or orders.
Staff would document the date, time, and location of each occurrence, supported, where possible, by photographs, witness statements, complaints, fire department notes, and previous warnings. Each offence must proceed through the applicable ticket, deemed-conviction or court process.
Charges for permits, inspections, false alarms and emergency responses will remain separate from bylaw fines.
Revised water bylaw clarifies service-line ownership
A revised Water and Sewer Bylaw modernizing regulation received first reading at council. Stockford said it does not materially change Hartland’s existing service requirements.
“The biggest thing that was done was to clear what’s (Hartland’s) responsibility and what is the property owners.” Owners are responsible for the service line up to their property line, she explained. Beyond that point, it belongs to the municipality.
Stockford said the property line is a fairer dividing point than the shut-off because some of Hartland’s older service lines run beneath neighbouring land.
“That’s not really fair to a resident because buildings and structures could have changed over the years,” Stockford said.
A diagram showing the division of responsibility will accompany the bylaw.
Changes to Deputy Mayor position may come
Members discussed whether Hartland’s deputy mayor should serve a four-year term or whether the position should rotate after two years.
The existing wording states that the deputy mayor is elected for a four-year term or until the next municipal election. Council discussed retaining the four-year term while adding language allowing a deputy mayor to step aside for health, personal, or other reasons.
“The way it’s written now,” Stockford told council, “if (Deputy Mayor Steward Fairgrieve) decided tomorrow that he no longer wanted to be Deputy Mayor, it doesn’t give us the option to correct it.”
“Then we’d have no Deputy Mayor for two years, three years, whatever,” added Coun. Webber.
“It makes a lot of sense,” said Deputy Mayor Fairgrieve, “and some flexibility is good based on the personalities of people that could assume the role. (Being) Deputy Mayor is a good learning experience, and it should be shared with other members of council.”
No change was approved July 14, but Stockford said she “can bring it back to the next meeting and you guys can discuss further.”
Health recruitment proposal returns in fall
“The ball is still in the air,” said Dep. Mayor Fairgrieve.
The proposed Hartland Physician Recruitment Steering Committee remains on hold while the municipality awaits more information on regional recruitment efforts.
Fairgrieve recommended waiting until members have a clearer understanding of recruitment and retention work already underway through the Western New Brunswick Service Commission and Horizon Health Network.
He said the regional commission is considering expanding its health-care work following the arrival of several newly elected mayors.
“They’re in the process with Horizon, bringing everyone that’s new up to speed. I’d like to see where that goes before we start duplicating something that’s already in planning,” Fairgrieve said.
The matter is expected to return in early fall.
Hartland joins provincial climate project
Hartland has enrolled in a provincially supported climate-change adaptation project being completed by Dillon Consulting Limited.
“There’s currently no direct cost to the municipality for completing the study under the provincial program,” CAO Stockford said. Most of Hartland’s contribution will be staff time spent gathering documents, attending meetings, reviewing drafts and helping with community engagement.
The study aims to identify weather-related risks to infrastructure and municipal services, including potential impacts on emergency response and future projects. Its findings can then be incorporated into Hartland’s asset management and capital planning.
Stockford said a climate adaptation plan is tied to municipal asset management requirements and eligibility for certain funding programs. Should the final report recommend spending or policy changes, those decisions will return through the normal budget or policy process.
Municipal fees brought under one policy
Municipal fees will be consolidated under a User Fee Policy and a master schedule adopted on July 14.
Until now, a routine fee change could force Hartland to reopen four or five bylaws. “The new policy leaves fines within the bylaws to preserve their enforceability while gathering service charges in one schedule.
“It’s to simplify things,” CAO Stockford said. “It makes it easier for staff because they’ve got one master schedule that they can refer to, and it’s easier for council when it comes time to make changes. They’re reviewing one document versus four.”
The work received praise around the table.
“Very well done,” said Coun. Boone.
Grant policy separates types of requests
Members adopted a revised Municipal Grant Policy, replacing the previous version governing financial requests from eligible organizations and non-profits.
“The purpose of this update is to make the policy clearer, more consistent, and easier to administer,” Stockford said.
Routine in-kind assistance has been removed from the grant application.
“Financial grants and in-kind support are different types of municipal support,” Stockford said. “It’s kind of redundant to bring that to council continuously.”
Everyday arrangements, such as lending equipment to Hartland Community School, can be recorded and handled administratively. Requests involving significant costs, municipal property, liability or other risks may still need to come before council in time for budget deliberations.
The town will publish a list of approved grants, and recipients receiving more than $1,000 will have to submit a final report.
Members also discussed providing annual allocations directly to Hartland’s four municipal halls, including the Legion, rather than requiring each hall to submit a separate routine grant application.
“Let’s be honest,” said the CAO. “These small halls aren’t getting the funding that they used to. They do need some help.”
“I think it’s another opportunity to engage with our community,” Mayor Demerchant said.
The hall proposal was not adopted on July 14 and will be returned during budget deliberations.
Coun. Boone asked that Town Treasurer Tina Pelkey provide a recent history of municipal grant allocations to assist with that review.
Next meetings
Hartland’s next regular meetings were scheduled for July 28 and Aug. 11 at 6:30 p.m. at town hall. Members of the public, as always, are invited to attend.
