At a council meeting on Monday night, Saint Andrews Town Council gave local developer Compass Housing the green light to proceed with the construction of an affordable 42-unit housing project at Mowat Drive at the former location of the Blue Moon Motel.The building, which will be called The Compass, will include; 36 two-bedroom units and 6 one-bedroom units ranging in rental price from $800 to $1200 per month.The town will also provide a $500,000 development grant to Compass Housing to ensure these rental rates are locked in place for the next 15 years.

CompassHousing has a track record of developing successful local housing units, including the 37-unit Anchors Landing building in Saint Andrews and the Beacon, a 50-unit, St. Stephen building. If all goes according to plan, shovels will be in the ground in 2023 potentially as early spring.

Over on Grand Manan, residents Mike Munro and Lauren Martin are working to open a credit union on the island. Scotiabank,closed its doors last August, leaving islanders with an approximately 8-hour round-trip to the mainland to get to the closest bank.

Munro and Martin are proposing a joint credit union and health centre to take over the former Scotiabank location. The financial institution would be a credit union - essentially a financial co-operative owned and operated by its members. They presented the proposal to Grand Manan Council during the regular January meeting.

Munro and Martin, who currently own and operate the island's only pharmacy, are wanting the proposed credit union to have an ATM, personal and retail banking, and an ability to provide small loans. A recently established Facebook group called "Help Form a Grand Manan Credit Union" already has 700 members, a healthy early showing of support, considering the island has just 2,400 residents. With enough support on their side, the next step for Munro and Martin will be to fulfill the requirements of the Credit Union Act to obtain government approval.