Jackie MacNeil says that when she hears someone mention rain, she gets a knot in her stomach.
The Canso Drive woman was among over a hundred Sydney residents in attendance at yesterday’s public information session on proposed flood control measures for Wash Brook.
Members of the municipality’s engineering department and representatives from engineering firm CBCL were on hand to answer any questions.
Also in attendance were municipal politicians, including Mayor Cecil Clarke, along with provincial MLA Derek Mombourquette and federal MP Mark Eyking.
CBCL engineer Victoria Fernandez says the best solution to mitigate flooding is what’s known as Option 15, which involves adding berms and creating stormwater storage.
The municipality will apply for federal funding in co-operation with other municipalities in the province; the threshold to qualify for the federal program is $20 million.
The municipality’s share of that funding based on project estimates is $3.5 million.

A Sydney man who was a community college student of the year has been sentenced to 2 and a half years in a federal prison on a charge of break and enter.
28-year-old David Leslie Manning was also ordered to submit a DNA sample to the national registry and is banned from possessing weapons for 10 years.
Manning won this year’s student of the year award at the Marconi Campus of the Nova Scotia Community College.
Several of his instructors filed support letters with the court.
Manning was one of three people charged in connection with a home invasion in April of 2016. The other accused were previously sentenced to federal terms ranging from three to eight years. Manning was facing additional charges but they were dismissed in exchange for the guilty plea.
Defence lawyer Tony Mozvik told the court his client has no problems with drugs or alcohol and until Friday, had no criminal record.
He noted his client was on strict release conditions since his arrest in 2016 and did not record any breach of the conditions.

The price of gas went down slightly, overnight.

Gas dropped by seven tenths of a cent and now goes for a minimum of $125.8 cents a litre in Cape Breton.

Meanwhile, diesel went up by seven tenths of a cent and now costs a minimum of $1.24.2 on the Island.

Analysts are predicting another drop in the price of gas, this week.

A dip of a between 1 and 2 cents a litre is being forecast.

Meanwhile, the price of gas in New Brunswick went down by 2.2 cents a litre, last night.

Diesel there fell slightly by nine tenths of a cent.

The minimum price for a litre of regular gas in Cape Breton is now $1.26.5.

Diesel now costs a minimum of $1.23.5 cents a litre on the Island.

A 23-year-old Sydney man who pleaded guilty to two arson fires in Sydney is due back in court today for a sentencing hearing.

 Kristopher Michael John Clark entered guilty pleas in March to fires that happened in October at a software and propane company.

A third count of arson was withdrawn.

He also pleaded guilty to a charge of careless storage of a weapon.

He’s been released on conditions.