The warden of the Municipality of the District of Guysborough says 2019 brought better communication between residents and councillors.
Residents have raised concerns of a lack of communication from councillors in the past.
In a year-end interview with The Hawk, Vernon Pitts, Guysborough’s warden, says past issues involved a few individuals, but the relationship has improved significantly.
“They thought they weren’t receiving the proper information or whatever, but we went through that exercise (and) we jumped through the hoops,” he says. “There was nothing happening that was wrong within our municipality- it’s just the way we were doing business, type thing.”
Pitts says they were fighting among themselves, but they’re all in it together.
He says 2019 was a difficult year for municipal councillors, staff members and residents in one respect.
Blair George, the former District 4 councillor, died in an ATV crash in Halfway Cove in January; he represented the district since 1988.
Pitts tells The Hawk they miss George every meeting.
“Blair always had something to say, he always had a little joke,” he says. “He was very focused- his vision of the future was just phenomenal.”
Dave Hanhams won April’s byelection to replace George, defeating three other candidates.
Pitts says Hanhams has done an excellent job since he stepped into the role.
He says looking ahead to 2020, he remains optimistic some big-ticket projects in the municipality will get off the ground; in particular, the proponents behind Goldboro LNG have made significant strides and cleared many hurdles the last few years.
Pitts says he’s concerned there are no actual shovels in the ground with any of the big projects yet, but the glass is still half-full.
“We’re out lobbying, working with these companies,” he says. “Be it Vulcan Minerals, Maritime Launch Services, Melford Atlantic Gateway (Container Terminal), as well as Goldboro LNG (and) Anaconda Mining.”
Pitts says the projects will have significant impacts on the municipality.
He says he believes good things come to those who wait.
