Councillors in the Municipality of the District of Guysborough have decided to leave the Eastern Strait Regional Enterprise Network.
They submitted their one-year notice of intent to withdraw from the REN in March 2018; they voted to follow through with that decision at February’s regular municipal council meeting Wednesday.
Vernon Pitts, the warden of the municipality, tells The Hawk the decision comes down to money, and the loss of tax revenue as a result of the end of the Sable Offshore project.
“We have to come up with (enough to cover) another $1 million shortfall this year,” he says. “We have to cut back on certain projects- some we have to do away with, and it just so happened the REN was one.”
Pitts says they still have their own economic development officer.
He says municipal officials are open to working with their REN counterparts on certain projects moving forward.
“We’re not above partnering with the REN going down the road on specific projects that would impact our municipality or the Strait Area,” he says. “We’re certainly open to discussing that.”
Antigonish town and county councillors have voted to stay with the REN; officials in the Town of Port Hawkesbury and the Municipality of the District of St. Mary’s are still considering their options.
