Communities talking rural incorporation

WOODSTOCK - Communities like Cascumpec, Campbellton and Mill River East have more in common with each other than they do with existing municipalities of Alberton or O'Leary suggests Mill River East resident, John Lane.
Lane believes there are advantages in having 19 communities between Alberton and O'Leary band together to form a new incorporated area. Residents from several of those communities have met to discuss incorporation and they're now ready to bring their discussion to a broader audience.
A public meeting to discuss incorporation will be held tonight at 7 p.m. at the Rodd Mill River Resort. Organizers are inviting anyone in West Prince to attend. They are especially interested in sharing information about the incorporation process with residents of communities that are not currently incorporated.
"One of the big reasons we're doing this," added Blair Horne, another supporter of rural incorporation, "is so we can have a voice. We don't have any say. Any of these areas we're looking at, no one has a say."
The proposed area for incorporation would extend from the Campbellton/Roseville boundary line to the Cape Wolfe/West Cape boundary line along Prince Edward Island's west shore right across to the North Shore, where it would stretch from the Union/Alberton boundary line down to the Cascumpec/Roxbury boundary.
The area has a landmass of 53,705 acres, a population of 3,065 and a tax base of around $200 million, Lane said.
He said it was the release of the Land and Local Governance report that got some area residents talking about incorporation. He noted the report makes reference to West Prince being divided into three municipalities, with Tignish, Alberton and O'Leary as their centres.
"When that plan came out, we started thinking, we really don't have much in common with Alberton, O'Leary or Tignish. They've got sewer. They've got lights, they've got sidewalk, their own snow removal from some of their streets."
Lane and Horne agreed many of those services would not be feasible within the municipal boundaries they envision.
John Chisholm, a municipal officer with Finance and Municipal Affairs will attend the meeting to explain the process which would include petitioning the government to initiate the process, duly notifying residents of the process and later on, some sort of survey to gauge the level of interest in incorporation. A clear majority would be needed, he suggested.
Lane thinks incorporation is inevitable.
"It's either going to be forced upon (communities) and you'll just be told, 'You're now part of Alberton or O'Leary,' or whatever, or it's going to be by choice and say, 'Yes, we want this to happen,' and then we set up a council."