ARICHAT: Richmond County has a new deputy warden, but the warden’s position has not changed.
During the regular monthly meeting on Oct. 24 in Arichat, Richmond Municipal Council decided that District 4 Councillor Amanda Mombourquette will remain as warden, while District 5 Councillor Brent Sampson is the new deputy warden.
After both Sampson and Mombourquette were nominated by District 3 Councillor Melanie Sampson, no other councillors were nominated for the positions.
Mombourquette served as warden during council’s first two terms following the 2020 municipal election, while this is Sampson’s first time as deputy warden.
Both Mombourquette and Sampson were first elected to council in the 2020 election and they will serve the next two years, until the 2024 municipal election.
Council approved a recommendation from the District 3 Councillor to have staff from the municipality and Strait Area Transit (SAT) explore strategies for more equitable service in Richmond County.
“Over the past few months, I’ve heard from multiple constituents just about some concerns with some service delivery in the Richmond County area, related to Strait Area Transit. Of course, there are lots of reasons why service delivery would be impacted in the area,” she told council. “We do give an awful lot of money to Strait Area Transit and I am concerned about the service that we are receiving.”
Noting that she and the deputy warden are members of the SAT board, the warden agreed.
“Certainly, I would share your concern,” Mombourquette replied. “I’m sure we probably get that feedback more regularly but I definitely think it’s a good idea to look at alternatives to try to find some solutions.”
Once he’s informed of the specific issues, as well as any solutions discussed at the board level, CAO Troy MacCulloch said he would speak with staff and contact the SAT.
Based on a recommendation from the Oct. 11 committee of the whole session, council decided to advertise for residents with “lived experience” to consider applying to be members of the Accessibility Advisory Committee.
Council supported a cellular advocacy letter drafted by Antigonish CAO Glen Horne calling for better service, and agreed to send correspondence after a request from the Municipality of the District of Guysborough (MODG).
The original letter from Premier Tim Houston to the federal minister of Innovation Science and Industry talked about the lack of support and participation from telecommunications companies in emergency planning and response before, during, and after Hurricane Fiona, Mombourquette told council.
“Specifically, with regards to proactively keeping the provincial coordination centre connected to their response plans,” she noted.
The Deputy Warden said the telecommunications companies have been great to deal with but he said lost service “for days and weeks on end” is inexcusable.
“I can definitely say in District 5, we’ve had a lot of issues… well after the storm, I’m talking two to three weeks later with large landline outages in the Framboise area,” he said.
Council agreed to the request from the MODG to send a letter of support to the premier.
MacCulloch said he wants to hear back from the CAO of Port Hawkesbury about fire coverage in Point Tupper before deciding whether fire hydrants should be installed on Langley Lane.
The CAO said his town counterpart will be talking to the Port Hawkesbury Fire Chief because the Port Hawkesbury Volunteer Fire Department provides fire service to that part of Richmond County.
“The numbers were pretty striking from this report as well. The quote from the engineer came in, the low end was $98,000,” the warden noted. “And then of course, the second option to do two hydrants was $177,000 so I think it would be prudent to wait for that report.”
The Deputy Warden agreed that waiting is the best option.
“If they’re not going to bare any of the costs, I would find it fairly unlikely they would come back and say, ‘no, it’s not necessary,’” Sampson said. “If it’s something they can get at, at no cost to them, I know if I was in their shoes, I would probably say yes.”
Although council decided last month that paving Langley Lane was too expensive, the District 3 Councillor asked if there was support for having staff investigate other funding avenues.
“We know that the program that we had been approved for, that’s not going to work for just regular repairs,” she told council. “If there was some other type of program, or some funding through the provincial Department of Public Works to get some work on that road, if it was a cost-shared piece.”
Noting that council already set aside money under the Canada Community Building Fund to pave the road, Sampson said that was the only option available at the time.
“Still the same road to get work done but maybe through a different program or a different funding partnership because it’s in deplorable condition,” she stated. “The intent was that we would be cost-sharing a paving project for that road.”
The District 3 Councillor hopes the province is willing to cost-share, and received council approval to reach out.
“In the past, when we’ve been asking for ditching, and grading, and gravel, and all those pieces, it’s been under the premise that the province would pay the whole piece, and so they’re hesitant to do that, which I can understand,” she said. “What would be the options and what would that cost look like?”
Council also agreed to contact Richmond MLA Trevor Boudreau and the Department of Public Works to see if the road qualifies for funding under the Gravel Road Reconstruction Program.