Talk of municipal merger in southwest N.S. stirs interest

The council for the Municipality of the District of Yarmouth has voted in favour of discussing the idea of consolidation with its municipal neighbours, with the help of a provincial facilitator.

The district represents people who live in Yarmouth County, but live outside the Town of Yarmouth.

The consolidation issue was dealt with at a meeting held on Wednesday.

"If you don't change with the times, you are going to be left behind," said Warden Leland Anthony. "And I don't want my residents to be left behind."

The decision to explore a consolidation process follows the successful experience of Windsor and West Hants. The two municipal units will officially form a new region on April 1.

The last time municipal reform in the Yarmouth area was discussed was in 1993.

'We owe it to the public'

The Municipality of the District of Yarmouth (population 9,845), the municipality of Argyle (population 7,899) and the town of Yarmouth (population 6,518) have recently had a falling out over the cost of a 911 dispatch service. They do still share close to 30 other services.

Pam Mood, the mayor of the town of Yarmouth, said taking a look at consolidation is an important next step.

"We owe it to the public to do things to bring us together that make it easier for things to happen," said Mood.

The town of Yarmouth will vote on taking part in the facilitated discussions at a council meeting Thursday night. The issue of municipal reform is on Argyle's Jan. 14 agenda.

The warden of Argyle, Danny Muise, said he is still unsure about the consolidation process.

"What's there for us?" said Muise. "Give us some information on what this would look like for our municipality."

A session will go ahead within 45 days of an official request to the Department of Municipal Affairs, as long as two of the three municipalities agree to take part.

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