Looking back at 2024 and ahead to 2025
RVS: What were the Southern Victoria highlights in 2024?
CM: The Village of Southern Victoria experienced a year of progress, celebration, and community-building in 2024. Some of our achievements and milestones were our largest-ever Tough Muck Competition, the Hullabaloo Music Festival, the Gathering of the Scots, the Western Valley Summer Games, Winter Freeze Fest, our Eclipse celebration, and enhanced festive decorations in our Christmas park.
We also transformed our waterfront, commissioned our solar system, provided clean energy for our industrial park, upgraded the system and generated 159 MWh. This is the equivalent of energy for 14 homes and reduced CO2 emissions by 158 tons. We also secured a 12-year power purchase agreement for the P-A Electric Light Commission, and we installed new well filters in Aroostook, improving water quality for residents.
We were busy because we also saw a new residential housing development and commissioned a new electrical line for Perth, which will lessen the number of power outages on the Perth side. The village also conducted public consultations for our Recreation Strategic plan, enhanced services and programs related to Dangerous Premises Enforcement, Solid Waste and Recycling, and expanded our heat pump program.
The year 2024 was a year of meaningful progress and community pride for the Village of Southern Victoria.
RVS: What do you consider 2024’s biggest disappointment?
CM: Despite our dedicated efforts in 2024, addressing the critical need for a collaborative healthcare clinic in our community remained a significant challenge. Council members and the healthcare committee worked tirelessly to advocate for improved healthcare services, but tangible progress was limited.
However, regular year-end meetings with Horizon Health have given us renewed hope. These discussions have been productive, and we are optimistic that 2025 will bring meaningful advancements toward establishing the healthcare solutions our community urgently needs.
Our council and other communities are concerned about response times and the impact on volunteer fire department members who cover ambulance calls. Council members are working with UMNB on this issue.
RVS: What are your biggest hopes for Southern Victoria in 2025?
CM: The Village of Southern Victoria’s key goals for 2025 include:
- Securing funding for infrastructure improvements for the Aroostook water system.
- Advancing efforts to establish a collaborative healthcare clinic.
- Beginning construction on a new municipal service complex.
- Promoting residential construction to address housing needs.
- Completing an update to the Municipal Plan and finalizing the Recreation Strategic Plan.
- Taking delivery of a new fire truck.
- Enhancing street and crosswalk safety.
These priorities reflect the council’s dedication to fostering growth, safety, and well-being in our community.
RVS: What is the status of Southern Victoria’s hospital heading into the new year?
CM: Our community is strongly committed to ensuring that Hotel Dieu Hospital continues to provide all existing services throughout 2025. Our Council and healthcare committee will remain steadfast in advocating for the maintenance and expansion of services at the hospital.
By working collaboratively with stakeholders and our local healthcare providers, we aim to support the continued delivery of high-quality healthcare for our community.
Working with Horizon and the provincial government, we look forward to the greatly needed development of a collaborative healthcare clinic in our community in 2025.
RVS: Perth-Andover residents have relied on its own electric light commission for more than a century. It appears the town saw a few more power failures in 2024. Can the community still rely on its power supply in the future?
CM: As the only village or town-owned electric utility in New Brunswick, Perth-Andover’s Electric Light Commission remains a cornerstone of reliable, green, and affordable power for our residents.
In 2024, the community witnessed only 9 partial outages for trouble calls on our system and one entire system outage in December. This longer outage in December was due to an issue with the NB Power transmission system, beyond the control of our local utility or the Tinker Dam. We had smaller, planned disruptions to accommodate the development of a new Perth feed line designed to better serve our customers.
These proactive improvements underscore our commitment to strengthening system integrity and ensuring resilience during future weather events.
The Electric Light Commission continues to focus on delivering dependable service, with ongoing upgrades aimed at minimizing disruptions and safeguarding the reliability of our network.
Perth-Andover customers can look forward to even greater reliability in 2025, with fewer outages and continued access to some of the most affordable power rates in New Brunswick. These advancements are a testament to our Council’s unwavering dedication to providing cost-effective and dependable energy solutions, ensuring our community’s trust and comfort for years to come.
Owning and operating our local utility empowers us to prioritize the needs of our customers, driving initiatives that benefit everyone. Together, we’re building a brighter, greener, more resilient future.
