It's the New Year. Time for some resolutions!

And I don't mean personal resolutions, like eating less chocolate (!) or getting more exercise.

When I say "resolutions", I mean there are some local issues that need to be resolved this year. Let me run down my local list.

First, we need to resolve the issue of wiring on Cowie Hill.

You'll recall that Cowie Hill's wiring is underground. For that privilege, residents have been paying a small surcharge on their electric bills for the past 30 years. Now the wiring needs to be replaced. Nova Scotia Power says it will replace the system at its own cost, but only above-ground. That means the usual network of poles and wires.

Cowie Hill residents understandably believe that overhead wiring will destroy the character and aesthetics of their unique neighbourhood. They believe underground wiring makes sense. Its value was proven during Hurricane Juan, when Cowie Hill had only a very brief interruption of service.

The issue was scheduled to go before the Nova Scotia Utility & Review Board last summer. The hearing was postponed, principally in order to permit the Halifax Regional Municipality to prepare an intervention in support of Cowie Hill residents. The hearing has not yet been re-scheduled but will likely take place some time in 2005.

I am pleased to be part of the Cowie Hill "team" that will make its case to the Utility & Review Board.

Second, we need to resolve the issue of Long Lake Provincial Park.

Sadly, "our" park was closed in the wake of Hurricane Juan, and has yet to re-open officially. (Of course, plenty of people are in the park anyway, despite the fact that it's technically illegal for them to be there.) The problem is that the Department of Natural Resources doesn't have the people-power to assess hurricane damage and clean it up.

In 2005, I will continue to press the Minister of Natural Resources to do what needs to be done to re-open Long Lake Provincial Park.

Third, we need to resolve some traffic issues on Northwest Arm Drive.

I wrote about these issues in more detail in my November column. Let me just say that the provincial Department of Transportation, which manages that particular stretch of road, needs to finish quickly its long-promised analysis, then get busy improving problematic Northwest Arm Drive intersections like Old Sambro Road, and Walter Havill Drive.

Finally, let me mention another issue that is mostly within municipal jurisdiction, but on which we can all play a role. I'm talking about the speed and number of vehicles travelling our residential streets. No matter where I go in my constituency, I hear complaints about too many motor vehicles going too fast. The worst street for this, in my opinion, is Osborne Street/Mayo Street/Withrod Drive between Northwest Arm Drive and Herring Cove Road. It may be a cliche, but this street is truly "an accident waiting to happen." As one Mayo Street resident told me recently, it won't get the attention it deserves until someone is hurt or killed. Sadly, I can think of literally a dozen other examples in my constituency that are nearly as bad.

I don't know how we can resolve this particular problem. I do know that we can't have a police car on every street corner. Maybe we need stiffer penalties (provincial responsibility). Maybe we need to find ways to make sure speeders get caught (municipal responsibility) and design our streets to make speeding tougher (also municipal). And I suspect most of us can take it a little easier, slow it down, and set an example for everyone else around us (everyone's responsibility).

Together, let's work towards achieving favourable "resolutions" to all of these issues in 2005.