AR planning for eventualities

By Geoffrey Agombar

Spectator

NovaNewsNow.com

In the absence of information as to whether Nova Scotia Power reassessments in Annapolis Royal will stand, causing the town to lose more than a quarter of its annual revenue; whether a three-way split of NSPI grant in lieu of taxes will stand; and whether the province will step in to cushion the blow, Annapolis Royal must plan for all eventualities.

To that end, two main strategies are underway.

Firstly, town staff has started to build a finely detailed costing of all town spending and services. “It’s their town, their community, and their money. In the end, they’ll have to decide what they want to do with it,” says CAO Amery Boyer, offering a dose of I-just-work here humility. “This will allow them to see how much everything we do costs, and compare that to how much it is worth.”

Mayor Phil Roberts admits that this situation is not all bad. “Actually, this has forced us to prioritize our plans, to take a look what we’ve been doing and trim. The [detailed costing] is pretty useful actually. We have to be very upfront with residents and with the province. The money we’ve received has gone underground into infrastructure. I think the province will take a look at these numbers and see that we have been spending wisely.”

Boyer agrees adding that the positive changes in Annapolis Royal since they started receiving a fair share of the NSPI grant in lieu of taxes starting in 2003 offer a model of what Nova Scotia’s rural communities could become with proper levels of investment.

Secondly, the town has been seeking the best ideas of any and all comers as to how to respond. So far a list of 12 options has been generated, 11 of which were printed and available at the public meeting January 5, and a 12th was sent in from Kingston later that week.

Option 1 would be to maintain the status quo, either by securing significant new funding or by winning an appeal of the reassessment. Options 2 and 3 involve scaling back services to various degrees, but would both likely result in failure of the town within two years.

Other suggestions include becoming a village, amalgamating with the county, or annexing adjoining communities of Granville Ferry and Lequille, salary holidays for town staff, making certain positions part-time, eliminating recreation or marketing positions, consolidating buildings to eliminate costs and free up valuable real estate for sale, instituting tolls on the causeway, privatization of all or most of town operations, or purchasing services from the county or nearby towns.

Option 12, submitted last week, was to talk to Parks Canada about taking the towns heritage status to the next level by becoming a park, similar to the situation of Banff or Jasper.

PAST IS PRELUDE

All in all, Boyer sees the most solid options as those which turn long-term strategies already in the works into short-term tactics. “Let’s face it, this region and this town were in crisis before this new threat was pushed onto us. And, we knew that relying on a single payer put us in a risky position. We have been a poster child for intermunicipal agreements. Anywhere it makes sense, we share costs or services. We have 11 active intermunicipal agreements on things like water, sewer treatment, fire services, health services, and so on. Fifty per cent of our water and sewage treatment services buildings outside our boundaries. We may have a population of 500, but we are the service centre for a catchment area of 9000, and we contribute heavily to regional initiatives. If we lose money, these initiatives lose our share. We can’t let good regional projects die – we can’t let crisis stifle ingenuity.”

Although no-one can predict precisely what will happen in the coming weeks and months, Boyer did hint what she thinks will happen in the long run. “This community has existed for more than 400 years now. This isn’t our first crisis, and it won’t be our last. If there’s one thing we know here, it is survival.” * * * * *

Other stories on this subject: (Jan. 13) Annapolis Royal working without NSPI information, Link: http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-291544-Annapolis-Royal-working-without-NSPI-information.html (Jan. 13) AR planning for eventualities, Link: http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-291548-AR-planning-for-eventualities.html (Jan. 8) Annapolis Royal citizens laugh in face of adversity, Link: http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-289978-Annapolis-Royal-citizens-laugh-in-face-of-adversity.html (Dec. 18) Municipalities and province disagree on Nova Scotia Power property taxes, Link: http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-284987-Municipalities-and-province-disagree-on-Nova-Scotia-Power-property-taxes.html (Dec. 10) Tidal Plant value fluctuates, “Catastrophic” for Annapolis Royal, Link: http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-282522-UPDATE-Tidal-Plant-value-fluctuates-Catastrophic-for-Annapolis-Royal.html (Dec. 8) Annapolis Royal to lose $735 000 in annual revenues, Link: http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-281434-Update-Annapolis-Royal-to-lose-735-000-in-annual-revenues.html