Eight months into Lee Patterson’s first term as mayor, the town has made progress on a number of fronts. The new zoning regulations are a positive first step in the plan to overhaul regulations for all sectors, including the core of Knowlton and surrounding neighbourhoods. There has been a noticeable improvement in communications with citizens – public consultation meetings, increased news bulletins on municipal projects and services, more comprehensive information at council meetings and reporting on issues discussed. There are new pickleball courts, new rules to ensure the safe and courteous use of trails, and the town’s largest-ever infrastructure project – the restructuring of Fulford Road – is already underway. These are the marks of a government trying to do things better, and that effort deserves recognition.
Projects in the Works
Eight months is also a good time to see where work remains.
Looking ahead, starting this summer, the town is presenting proposals on zoning changes for the downtown core and patrimonial buildings. Mayor Patterson says the moratorium on multipurpose development (essentially all of Knowlton between the Rona and Barnes stores) will be lifted in the fall.
Consultation on overhauling zoning regulations in surrounding neighbourhoods is expected to start this fall and winter, with the aim of including aesthetic guidelines designed to enhance and protect the architectural character of the neighbourhoods.
On other fronts, he says he expects to announce the site of a new fire hall in the coming months. A new budget will be presented in September, which will provide further detail of projects and plans in the works. Plans for the ‘lac en santé’ are being firmed up, and regular maintenance and management issues are ongoing.
Mayor Patterson says there were a few unexpected curveballs that had to be addressed in his few first months in office: the Hydro-Québec substation project in West Brome; the overturning of MRC plans for public transit; and new provincial regulations that the town has to deal with. But, overall, he is optimistic. The new council is working well as a team, and working efficiently with town officials, trying to do a better job of listening to residents’ concerns and suggestions, and providing better services.
Lingering Issues
There is also unfinished business from before this council took office last November.
The controversial multi-dwelling projects across from the IGA are still unresolved. The mayor says he is hopeful that an agreement can be reached with the developer of the yellow buildings to address building design and landscaping issues; the town and the developer of the brown buildings are still in court, and it is not certain if or how that project might move forward.
The matter of a lakefront resident topping trees on public land in 2024 to improve his private view, remains an open wound in the community’s trust. The administration’s repeated insistence that it “cannot comment” on the matter, without any sense of timeline or process, leaves residents wondering what, if anything, is happening. Mayor Patterson says he expects an out-of-court agreement will be announced by November.
What is happening with the former Sapin buildings at the heart of Knowlton – empty since 2024?
On that front, too, we are still in the dark, but the mayor is hopeful the town and the owner will come to an agreement on renovating the property in the coming months.
Brome Lake is a unique community with enormous potential, and it is a great place to call home.
It deserves a local government that listens to residents and visibly acts on what it hears—one that holds itself to a standard far above the bare minimum – in all aspects even the most mundane like what kind of gravel it uses to resurface roads.
This administration has shown promising leadership in its first eight months. Now it must continue to listen to residents’ concerns, at council meetings and in other public forums, and find creative ways to deliver on expectations and earn their trust.