106 Riverside Drive, North Rustico PE C0A 1X0 902-963-3211 www.northrustico.com NOVEMBER 2017 North Rustico Newsletter Home Energy Low-income Program (HELP) The Home Energy Low-income Program (HELP) provides free air-sealing and energy efficient upgrades to qualified low-income Islanders. To be eligible, applicants must meet the following criteria: you must be a resident of PEI with a total household income of $50,000 or less; you must own and live in the residence or pay the total heating costs if you rent; and the property must be your primary residence or a year-round rental property. A HELP tradesperson completes a comprehensive air-sealing (such as caulking, weather-stripping, sealing gaskets) free of charge at your residence along with the following: installation of a programmable thermostat, a low-flow showerhead, a voucher for a free furnace cleaning (up to $80 value), a quantity of ENERGY STAR LED light bulbs. *Proof of income must be your most recent original July GST Credit Notice showing your net family income, marital status, and province of residence. Applications for the program can be picked up at the Town Office. TOWN OFFICE HOLIDAY HOURS The Town Office will be CLOSED during the week of Christmas from Monday, December 25 th to Monday, January 1 st, 2018. The office will re-open on Tuesday, January 2 nd. Aside from the Christmas holidays, the office will also be closed during this time in order to have the office re-painted. The North Rustico Fire Department would like to thank the community for their continuous support. We have a few reminders that we would like to pass along as colder weather and the holiday season is upon us. Please remember the following: change the batteries in your smoke detector if you have not already, clean out your chimneys to prevent creosote build-up, change or clean your furnace filters, and check your carbon monoxide detectors. Fire prevention at home starts with you. Also watch our Facebook page for more fire prevention tips during the holidays. Be safe and enjoy all the winter season has to offer. The Town of North Rustico would like to remind residents that the dumpster on Timber Lane is designated for the Town s garbage only. This bin is not for the use of residents. We ve run into several issues where garbage was placed in our bin and it does not belong, garbage being left by the dumpster and blowing all down Timber Lane as well as the dumpster being so full, the Town has no where to throw out its waste. There has been a lock put on the dumpster to help alleviate these issues. If you are having issues with your bins, please contact Island Waste Management at 1-888-280-8111.
CHRISTMAS & THE COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING The Annual Christmas Tree Lighting in Seawalk Park, North Rustico Friday, December 1st, 2017 at 5:45PM Free Hot Chocolate and Robin Eggs and lots of Christmas music and spirit. There will also be a special visit from Santa! DECORATING FOR CHRISTMAS + JUDGING We re starting to see lots of residents start to decorate for Christmas! It s so great that the Christmas spirit is upon us! We are having our annual Best Decorated House contest this year however we ve changed it up a bit. This year, every house that is decorated for Christmas, whether it be a full yard of decorations or just a few strings of lights, will receive a ballot. All of the ballots will go into a drum and we will select two! Those winners will receive a $250 prize! We will be going around checking these houses on or after December 15 th, 2017. Winners will be announced on December 20 th, 2017. CHRISTMAS TEA & JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM On Thursday, December 14 th, the Town of North Rustico will be hosting a Christmas Cold Plate at the Star of the Sea Seniors. This will include turkey, ham, potato salad, coleslaw, rolls, and more! It will start at 5:00PM. Tickets will be $5.00 and must be purchased in advance. We only have a limited quantity of seats available so it will be a first come first serve in terms of tickets. Tickets can be purchased at the Town Office during regular office hours. Immediately following this will be the Journey to Bethlehem. This is a walking nativity scene that will start in Seawalk Park and finish at Watermark Theatre. This will start approximately at 6:30PM. As you make your way up to the Watermark Theatre, there will be several stops where you will meet and pick up all those who were involved in the birth of Jesus such as the shepherds, the wise men, Mary, Joseph, the Inn Keeper and angel. The event will finish with music and Christmas carols inside the theatre.
FRIDAY, DEC 1 ST KIM ALBERT CHRISTMAS CONCERT 7:30PM-9:30PM $10 admission, 50/50 draw and door prizes. Donation of canned food greatly appreciated with proceeds to Knights of Columbus Food Bank On Monday, December 11 th at 2PM, join North Rustico Home Hardware Building Centre for an afternoon tea. Stop by for their Chalk paint demo and treats! SATURDAY, DEC 2 ND KAITLYN & MASON 9PM-1AM 19+ SUNDAY, DEC 3 RD CHILDREN S WISH XMAS FUN DAY 12PM-3PM $5 admission FRIDAY, DEC 8 TH TRIVIA 7:30PM $3 admission 19+ SATURDAY, DEC 9 TH SENIOR S CHRISTMAS DINNER 5:30PM $5 admission Tickets available at Lions Club Bar or See members of Star of the Sea Seniors. Donation of canned food item greatly appreciated. SATURDAY, DEC 16 TH KIM ALBERT AND FACES 9PM-1AM 19+ FRIDAY, DEC 22 ND TRIVIA 7:30PM $3 admission 19+ SATURDAY, DEC 23 RD CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION with Taylor and Kelly Buote 2PM-5PM Bar Hours 11AM-6PM Last Call at 5:30PM 19+ THIRD ANNUAL COMMUNITY GATHERING Friday, December 8 Doors open 6:30 pm Show starts 7:00 pm Music! Art! Treats! Door prizes! Featuring: Carl Peterson (Scrooge in A Christmas Carol) as Emcee, Janet McGarry & Serge Bernard, Brad Trivers with Party Mix, Becca Griffin, Olivia and Barb, Jeremy Buote s magic, step dancing, singing and more! Gulf Shore School Student Art Display in the lobby Entrance by donation Proceeds to the Gulf Shore School music program & Watermark Theatre.
REZONING OF PID #236935 IRAC APPEAL The Town of North Rustico has received a Notice of Appeal from the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC) regarding the rezoning of PID #236935 Rick Gallant s application to change from R3 Multi-unit residential to C1 General Commercial. The IRAC appeal process is a public process so we will keep you up to date as we move forward with the appeal. COUNCIL MEETING On Monday, December 4 th, there will be a regular council meeting at 7:00PM in the town office. At this meeting, the Seawalk Project Committee will be making a presentation. While all council meetings are open to the public, we welcome all residents to our meeting if you wish to learn more about the upcoming project. WE NEED YOUR HELP! WINTER PARKING As our snowy season quickly approaches, the Town of North Rustico would like to remind residents not to park on the side of the road or on the shoulder. Many of our streets are very narrow and this makes it difficult for snow plows to clear snow. We thank you for your cooperation with this. We are looking for pictures of North Rustico that you will be willing to share with us. We are putting together a calendar with all pictures of North Rustico to deliver to our residents who are now in nursing homes for Christmas If you have any photos you d like to share, please let Marley know at the office at 902-963-3211 or by email at mdoucette.northrustico@gmail.com. Also, if you know of any North Rustico residents who are in a nursing home, please let us know so we can make sure they get a calendar! NORTH RUSTICO LIONS CLUB CALL FOR NOMINATIONS The North Rustico Lions Club is seeking nominations for the Tracey Peters Memorial Volunteer of the Year Award. If you would like to nominate someone in North Rustico for this award, please submit your nomination in a sealed envelope and drop it off to the Lions Club on or before December 14 th, 2017.
A BRIEF RUNDOWN OF FUNDING AND HOW IT WORKS With the recent funding announcement made regarding the town, we thought this would be a great opportunity to educate our residents on how funding and grants work. With funding, there is typically a pool of money that the funding comes from. If you meet the criteria, you may put in an application to access these funds. Once the pool is empty, the funding is closed. This is why the town takes advantage of funding opportunities when they arise. If we receive funding, this means the money has come to North Rustico instead of possibly another community. When a funding or grant program is announced, there is a list of eligible projects that the fund will cover and a list of criteria that must be met. For example Celebrate Canada is a federal government fund from the Department of Canadian Heritage that the town applies for every year for Canada Day. Below is some of the criteria that is on the Celebrate Canada Application Guidelines: To be eligible, your project must: be organized during the Celebrate Canada period, which runs from June 21 to July 1 to celebrate and promote National Indigenous Peoples Day, Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, Canadian Multiculturalism Day and Canada Day (in certain cases, funded activities may be undertaken up to five days prior to the Celebrate Canada period); be free of charge and be open to the general public and promoted as such. Only project-related expenses are eligible. These may include: promotional expenses, communications, entertainment, supplies, equipment; birthday cake for Canada Day Celebrations; fireworks; administrative costs (not exceeding 15% of the total contribution), such as salaries and benefits, fees for professional services, bank charges and utilities; and reasonable travel/hospitality expenses inside Canada. (all of this information and more can be found at https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/funding/celebrate-canada) As you can see above, there are specific details that determine if the project is eligible for funding under that program and what that money can be spent on. We could never apply under the Celebrate Canada funding for funding to install new sewer lines or new roads. Of course, there are various different types of funding and grant opportunities that come from several different sources such as the federal and provincial governments, and funding and grants from businesses, organizations and corporations. Every fund is different in terms of criteria and what is required by the town to access these funds. For example some funds will only cover 50% of a project. When we access funds like this, we often seek other partnerships to help cover the town s portion. This money can come from our Gas Tax allocation, other government departments, through fundraising, private donations, corporate sponsors or through the town. If you d any more information on funding and grants, we d be happy to talk with you at the town office!