Raynor is the council chairman for the Community of Bedeque and Area, the province’s newest community.
The newly amalgamated community, comprised of Bedeque and Central Bedeque, was formed last fall but, already, there is talk of even more growth.
At its first annual general meeting, council discussed possible expansion and a move, in the future, of bringing smaller surrounding communities into the fold.
“Something that we are talking about, well, everybody is talking about, is getting a little bit bigger,” Raynor said Tuesday. “We are the first two communities to actually merge together and first two incorporated villages to merge.
“There will be other areas that are going to be coming together.”
The Community of Bedeque and Area is small, one of the smallest municipalities in the province with only 310 residents. Its size is a mere 2.2 square kilometres.
In total, there are 73 municipalities in the province.
If the recommendations of the report by the late Judge Ralph C. Thompson are followed that number could get smaller.
Amalgamation was the heart of Thompson’s report, that of the Commission on Land and Local Governance, which released in 2010. In it, sweeping changes to the borders of the province’s smaller communities was recommended.
If followed, the merger would result in 24 larger zones of governance.
And Raynor feels change is coming, which is prompting his council — and community — to be proactive in its approach.
“It is something that we definitely have to look forward to down the road,” he added. “If we don’t look at our options we are going to be absorbed by someone bigger.”
But, he admitted, growth for a municipality the size of his isn’t easy.
Council hopes to put in place a new street lighting system, which was discussed at Monday night’s meeting, changing from high-pressure sodium lighting to LED.
“If we get the lights all changed to LED it means a price reduction to us of about 20 per cent. It is quite a difference.”
Community council is also moving forward with the adoption of the gas tax, which, in the future, could mean more money for various municipal projects.
Raynor hopes the change in the property tax rate assessment will help in attracting more businesses and more people to the Community of Bedeque and Area.
“We do have the William Callbeck Centre in Bedeque and we are actively trying to get business into that. Then we have the P.E.I. Bag Company and we have Linkletter Welding, which are our major employers,” he added. “As is with any other community we are open to anyone who wants to come and set up shop in Bedeque.”