ARICHAT: Municipal councillors want to keep five districts but are recommending changes to boundaries.
During the regular monthly meeting in Arichat on Jan. 23, Richmond Municipal Council made its recommendations for the final governance and boundary review report that will be submitted to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (UARB) by Feb. 15.
Councillors approved a motion to: make the populations of Districts 1 and 2 more equal (possibly by moving the boundary line to Highland Street and Binet’s Lane in Arichat); move the community of Lennox Passage into District 3; add the community of Thibeauville to District 4; and put the community of Grand Greve into District 4.
Before discussions started, Warden Amanda Mombourquette wanted to make it clear that governance and boundary reviews are required, under the Municipal Government Act, to take place every eight years.
“It was not initiated by council. It was a requirement of the provincial government,” she told council.
As part of the review, the warden said the municipality hosted six in-person sessions and conducted three public surveys on topics such as council size and geography.
“I wanted to recognize to members of the public who’ve been asking, that I think we could’ve probably done a better of communications early on around this,” she stated.
Noting councillors have had conversations in communities around the municipality about the impacts, Mombourquette said she heard similar comments.
“Communities being split has been a big part of the discussion,” she noted. “I think we need to recognize that’s what happens when we draw lines around communities; there’s always going to be some kind of interruption to the natural flow of people.”
The warden said the population decline experienced in Richmond County since the early 1990s has “levelled off” recently, but is not projected to increase.
“Any report or recommendation that we put forward, I think we need to be really strong in our rationale as to why we’re going in a certain direction,” she stated.
There was some support expressed for advocating for seven municipal districts, but that would involve increased costs for the municipality, the warden said.
“Richmond County has seen, in the last review, dramatic change in the reduction from 10 to five councillors,” she said. “Voters are still getting used to the districts, but also to the different governance style.”
Noting she supports keeping five municipal districts, Mombourquette said boundary changes are necessary.
“Those changes, I think, are starting to foster some big picture thinking and maybe a little less, in my backyard, parochialism kind of thinking,” she said.
The warden said there is a need to have more voter parity between districts 1 and 2 on Isle Madame.
“I thought it would create some even representation on the island,” she stated.
District 1 Councillor Shawn Samson said he is satisfied with the way the review was conducted.
“It doesn’t seem like there’s any council division around this table,” he said.
Samson supports retaining five municipal districts with “minor tweaks” like moving Lennox Passage.
District 2 Councillor Michael Diggdon pointed out that the final survey did not present residents with the option of choosing the status-quo with changes.
Diggdon also supports retaining the number of districts, with changes to boundaries for Grand Greve.
“Currently, the residents of Lennox Passage are already in district 2,” he told council. “I don’t know that the UARB is going to accept making the numbers worse by pushing them further.”
District 3 Councillor Melanie Sampson said the UARB will allow the population of districts to vary by more or less than 12 per cent, if there are good reasons.
“Originally, my thought was seven as well. The original seven map seemed to look good to me, in terms of keeping communities of interest together. Then when they were changed, and then we found out a little bit more about the money part of it,” she stated. “But I’ve certainly come around to the idea of five and the last survey, the third survey, absolutely supports the decision of five.”
The District 3 Councillor supports the “status-quo with some tweaks,” such as adding Lennox Passage to her district.
“If we’re talking about numbers themselves, it doesn’t feel as heavy as the percentage,” she noted. “You’re literally talking about very few people in the difference that would bring us to that parity.”
Deputy Warden Brent Sampson said the draft report gave him pause.
“Honestly, I prefer the idea of seven just based on, I think, it would be better representation. I do understand there’d be a cost, however there could be ways around that, whether I think the stipend would be reduced, if we go to seven, as well,” he said. “I’d be willing to support going with five, although I think we should get the voter parity, where possible.”
Pointing out that his district covers half of the municipality; Sampson supports any measure to make it smaller geographically.
“Grand Greve is really close to St. Peter’s and identifies probably more with St. Peter’s,” he said.
The warden and CAO Troy MacCulloch will work with Stantec Consulting to design a new map to reflect their boundary choices for the special council meeting that the warden hoped to hold sometime this week.
The municipality had the deadline to make their submission to the UARB extended from December.