ANTIGONISH: Last week saw the first of what will be a series of joint meetings between town and county councils.
The People’s Place Antigonish Town and County Library hosted the first official joint meeting between Antigonish Town and Antigonish Municipal Councils on January 10.
Antigonish Mayor Laurie Boucher said the town and county have met over the last number of years in informal settings. Boucher said the councils wanted the public to be able to see what both groups were discussing and meeting about, so the CAO from the town and the clerk-treasurer from the county met to hammer out terms of reference for the meetings.
The councils will meet the third Wednesday of February, June, September, and November. Quorum will require at least half of each council.
“It’s good to get started and it’s good to be transparent and we’re hoping that both town and county residents take advantage and see what we’re doing,” she said.
Antigonish County Warden Russell Boucher said he felt the first meeting, which included discussions about the exhibition grounds and the arena commission, went well. He said the joint council meetings will serve some of the same purposes as a regular committee that reports back to council.
“We had lots of discussion and I think, going forward, we will end up doing lots of things together,” he said.
“As a committee, we will be voting on issues. That committee only recommends [items] to council. Each individual council will still have to vote on whatever topic was passed at the committee level. If they pass it, we will implement whatever the topic was.”