Message from the Steering Committee

Since March, 2016, members of the Advisory Committees of the Local Service Districts of Douglas, Keswick Ridge, Kingsclear and Bright, along with interested residents from the community of Lower Queensbury, have been studying the concept of jointly adopting a rural community model for the delivery of local services to our residents. The proposed name of the restructured area is the York Rural Community (YRC). The Project is fully explained at www.yorkruralcommunity.ca.

Being a Rural Community could allow us to:

• have locally elected representatives making decisions about our tax rate and the services we receive

• keep costs for administration lower by pooling our tax base• have control over our emergency plan and over our land use planning• apply for funding programs that are not available to LSDs (to offset costs for programs

that residents want that would otherwise have to be paid for by our property taxes) • have a voice about local affairs including upcoming initiatives in our area such as the

Mactaquac Project and the Sisson Mine Project• direct the economic development of our community the way we want• be consistent with most jurisdictions in Canada (i.e. incorporated)• have access to Gas Tax funding of approximately $660,000 per year from 2019 to 2023.

A vote (plebiscite) will be held on October 23, 2017 to determine whether the local service districts (LSDs) of Douglas, Keswick Ridge and Bright and the Communities of Lower Queensbury, Island View, Lower Kingsclear, French Village, Oswald Gray Subdivision and a portion of Upper Kingsclear will be restructured into a single administrative unit as a Rural Community.

Ordinary polls will be held on Monday, October 23, 2017, between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Advance polls will be held between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday, October 14, 2017. Electors should receive individual Voter Information cards in the mail starting on October 9, 2017, setting out all polling locations for their polling division.

The YRC Steering Committee’s Project Feasibility Study Final Report was submitted to the Minister of Environment and Local Government on August 17, 2017 and was accepted.

You are invited to consult the following summary of the study in order to make an informed decision.

A Summary of the York Rural Community Project Final Feasiblity Study Report

LSD ofDouglas

LSD ofKeswick

Ridge

LSD ofKingsclear

LSD ofBright

LSD ofQueensbury

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Upper Miramichi

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Proposed RC

Municipalities

Local Service Districts (LSD)

Bright

Douglas

Keswick Ridge

Kingsclear

Queensbury

Date: 2017/06/30 NBELG

Coordinate System: NAD 1983 CSRS New Brunswick Stereographic

Communities in the proposed YRC Project area:• Boyds Corner• Brewers Mills • Burtts Corner • Cardigan• Carlisle Road• Central Hainesville • Crabbe Mountain• Crocks Point• Currieburg• Deersdale• Dorn Ridge• Douglas• Fredericksburg• French Village • Green Hill Lake• Howland Ridge • Island View • Jewetts Mills • Jones Forks• Keswick• Keswick Flats• Keswick Ridge• Lower Hainesville• Lower Kingsclear• Lower Queensbury• Lower Stone Ridge • MacLean Settlement • Mactaquac • Middle Hainesville• Mouth of Keswick• Napadogan• North Tay• Oswald Gray Subdivision• Pughs Crossing • Scotch Lake• Scotch Settlement • Sisson Settlement• Tay Creek• Tay Mills• Tripp Settlement • Upper Keswick• Upper Kingsclear (north end)• Upper Stone Ridge • Valley View Estates Subdivision• Woodlands• Zealand

• 2017 tax base for the YRC Project area is estimated at $647,505,850.

• 2016 Census population is estimated at almost 9,000.

• Homeowners will only pay for the services they presently receive.

• Road upgrades and maintenance remain the responsibility of Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DTI). Homeowners would continue to pay 41.15¢ / $100 of assessment for DTI road work and maintenance.

• Current average LSD property tax rate in the YRC Project area is $0.4957 for homeowners and $0.7435 for businesses.

• If Status Quo is maintained, an annual increase of 0.5¢ per 100$ of assessment is projected. For example, a home assessed at $100,000 would see a $5 annual increase.

• Proposed average 2019 property tax rate would be 0.5058 for homeowners and 0.7587 for businesses if the status quo is maintained.

• A one-time estimated increase of 1.3¢ per $100 of assessment is proposed to fund YRC administration along with the 0.5¢ status quo annual increase for a total increase of 1.8¢. For example, a home assessed at $100,000 would see a $18 annual increase.

• Proposed average 2019 YRC property tax rate would be $0.5238 for homeowners and $0.7857 for businesses.

• YRCwouldadministeralllocalservicesincludingfireprotection.

• YRC budget would be approximately $4.45M for 2019 including a $250,000 administration budget.

• YRC Council meetings could be held in existing halls or recreation centers on a rotating basis until a permanent location is chosen.

• OfficespacecouldberentedinalocationofCouncil’schoosing.

Your community, your choice!All residents who are eligible to vote will be asked to respond to the following question:

“Are you in favour of the establishment of the local service districts of Keswick Ridge, Douglas, Bright, a portion of the local service district of Kingsclear, and a portion of the local service district of Queensbury as a rural community?”

Thesupportofthelocalpopulationwillbeconsideredsufficientifthemajority (50% + 1) of the people voting in the plebiscite are in favour of establishing a rural community.

The projected annual impact on residents’ tax bills (for the status quo and for the proposed YRC)

is fully described in the YRC Project Final report (available at www.yorkruralcommunity.ca).

In summary:

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PENNIAC

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ISLANDVIEW

NASONWORTH

CHARTERSSETTLEMENT

MAZEROLLESETTLEMENTUPPER

KINGSCLEAR

ZEALAND

BURTTSCORNER

KESWICKRIDGE

FRENCHVILLAGE,YORK CO

MACTAQUAC

JEWETTSMILLS

GREENHILLLAKE

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LOWERQUEENSBURY

LOWERQUEENSBURY

BEARISLAND

LAKEGEORGE

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KINGSCLEARFIRST

NATION

MIDDLEHAINESVILLE

UPPERHAINESVILLE

MAPLERIDGE

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CLARKVILLE

CENTRALWATERVILLE

BULLLAKE

HAWKINSCORNER

STAPLESSETTLEMENT

WIGGINSMILL

UPPERQUEENSBURY

BARONY

UPPERCAVERHILL

DUMFRIES

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TEMPERANCEVALE

ROSSVILLE

POKIOKRITCHIE

SOUTHAMPTON

ALLANDALE

CHARLIELAKE

HAWKSHAW

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TEMPLE

DORRINGTONHILL

CARROLLRIDGE

EASTNEWBRIDGE

EASTNEWBRIDGE

HARVEY,YORK CO.

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ESTEY'SBRIDGE

RICHIBUCTOROAD

HAYESVILLE

ROCKYBROOK

MAPLEGROVE

DEERSDALE

JUNIPER

DIVIDE

GLASSVILLE

KNOWLESVILLE

CARLISLE

HOWARDBROOK

ARMOND

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WARDSETTLEMENT

CROSSCREEK

WILLIAMSBURG

RED ROCK

ENGLISHSETTLEMENT

GIANTSGLEN

TAYFALLS

LIMEKILN

TAYCREEK

WOODLANDS

CURRIEBURG

NORTHTAY

FREDERICKSBURG

CROWHILL

LOWERHAINESVILLE

CENTRALHAINESVILLE

HOWLANDRIDGE

MAINSTREAM

CLOVERDALE

MAPLEWOOD

ASHLAND

POLEHILL

EASTBRIGHTON

LOWERBRIGHTON

NEWBURG

NAPADOGAN

MACLAGGANBRIDGE

BARTHOLOMEW

PARKERRIDGE

MCGIVNEY

HANWELL

SCOTCHSETTLEMENT,

YORK CO

UPPERKESWICK

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LOWERWOODLAND

ASTLE

TAXISRIVER

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HOLTVILLE

BLOOMFIELDRIDGE

GREENHILL

LINCOLN

LOWERKINGSCLEAR

WAASIS

BREWERSMILLS

RUSAGONIS

GRANITEHILL

SPRINGFIELD,YORK CO

Ward 1

Ward 2

Ward 6

Ward 7

Ward 5

Ward 3

Ward 4

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10

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104

104

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105

102

105

105

107

101

102

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628

605

640

616

615

610

595

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617

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Millville

Stanley

UpperMiramichi

UpperMiramichi

Fredericton

Hanwell

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7 WardsDate: August 17, 2017

The YRC Project area and ward locations being proposed for YRC are shown in the following map:

Ryan Donaghy, Director of Local Government ServicesDepartment of Environment and Local GovernmentTelephone: (506) 444-4423 | Fax: (506) 457-4933 | Email: ryan.donaghy@gnb.ca

The number of wards and the communities in each ward were organized this way based on feedback received from residents during the YRC Project Feasibility Study.

The Council makeup for the proposed YRC is described in the following table.

There will be one councilor per ward elected by voters of the ward they run in.

The mayor will be elected by all residents.

Ward # Communities Estimated # of voters

1 Napadogan, North Route 620, Hainesville, Howland Ridge 600

2 Lower Queensbury, Scotch Lake, Scotch Settlement, Jewetts Mills, Mactaquac 600

3 Burtts Corner, Zealand, Burtts Corner (Upper Keswick) 1,100

4 Burtts Corner, Keswick, Route 104, Sugar Island/Lower Douglas 1,000

5 Keswick Ridge 1,000

6 Carlisle Road 1,000

7 Island View, Lower Kingsclear, French Village, Oswald Gray Subdivision and a portion of Upper Kingsclear

800

Mayor Elected by all voters

More information can be obtained by contacting: