A group in central Queens County wants to amalgamate.
The West River Group, comprised of councillors from the rural municipalities of Afton, Bonshaw, Meadow Bank, New Haven/Riverdale and West River, recently submitted a proposal to the P.E.I. Department of Fisheries and Communities.
The group was formed in 2017 prior to the proclamation of the current provincial Municipal Government Act. Following a series of public meetings in each rural municipality and at the direction of residents in attendance and the five councils, 10 councillors were appointed to the working group.
In 2018, a West River Growth Management Study was completed, which included consultation with communities around remaining individual communities or amalgamating together.
The overwhelming response from the study was in favour of amalgamating into one larger municipality that would, in the interim, be called the Rural Municipality of West River.
The study and its recommendations were presented to each of the five communities at separate meetings on the same evening in the fall of 2018.
Polling of the residents in attendance identified amalgamation as the preferred option.
The West River Group recently completed the proposal for restructuring required by the province. This proposal includes the five resolutions for restructuring from each municipality, as well as documentation on current and proposed budgeting, five-year capital planning, asset analysis and planning and legislative information.
The proposal, which is currently in the hands of administrative staff at the Fisheries and Communities Department, will be forwarded to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission for analysis.
