The Town and County of Antigonish have spoken. At two special council meetings held last night they voted in favour of moving forward with consolidation. The vote was four in favour and three against for the motion for the Town, and five for and three against for the Counties motion. Some council members voted against the motion due to residents in their respective ridings that where either not in favour of consolidation or they demanded a plebiscite vote take place before a final decision is made on the matter. Two council members abstained from the vote due to a conflict of interest.
“We began this process to explore consolidation, with the intent to determine if residents, businesses, and the overall community will be better served if the Town and County become one municipal unit and I believe the answer to that question is yes“ Stated County Warden Owen McCarron. Antigonish Mayor Laurie Boucher says she is confident that this will have a positive impact on municipal service delivery, enhance urban and rural areas, and create an opportunity to work together and grow as a community. “We have seen tremendous value in partnering with the county on variety of projects and initiatives over the last couple of years. Our strategic directions are already closely aligned, not only will we be able to accomplish more, but we will also be able to better serve our community. “ says Boucher
Many people showed up to protest before the special meeting to demand a plebiscite vote as they felt their voices were not heard during the consultation process and they believe this is this best way for community members to inform both municipalities where they stand on consolidation. Both councils endorsed the community engagement process as part of their exploration of consolidation by hosting public engagement sessions and invited community members to share how they felt about consolidation with the municipalities “We absolutely wanted to engage with our residents to hear their thoughts and concerns, at the end of the day, it was a proactive approach and I believe we gave residents sufficient opportunities to share their views, we listened and heard many different opinions throughout the engagement process.“ said McCarron. Some of those opposed were concerned that taxes could increase if the two municipalities consolidated, Mayor Boucher says taxes do not go up solely due to consolidation and there is no guarantee that municipal taxes will increase. The community group “Let Antigonish Decide” will remain active for the foreseeable future to demand a plebiscite vote and they are working out plans on how they will engage with the municipalities.
Last, month, the County and Town issued a joint release announcing that if both municipalities were to dissolve and a new consolidated municipal unit was formed, it would result in an increase of $1 Million in policing costs annually. By keeping the name Municipality of the County of Antigonish, there would be no change in the funding formula. There will be a new organization structure, created in partnership with equal representation from the County and Town and employees from both municipal units will be given equal opportunity to be part of the new structure.
Special legislation will be drafted and presented during the spring sitting of the Nova Scotia Legislature. This will guide the Town and County through the transition process and a transition committee will be formed once the legislation is passed. The transition committee will design a new administrative structure for the consolidated municipality and undertake another engagement process to identify new electoral boundaries. During this phase current councils will remain and continue to oversee operations for the existing municipal units and staff will stay with their current positions while the new organization structure is determined.
The plan is to have the consolidated municipal unit operational on April 1st 2025
