Mayors sign an Inter-Municipal Cooperation Protocol

By Christy Marsters

The Hants Journal/NovaNewsNow.com

Many facets of Windsor and Hantsport doing business together were united Nov. 3 through an Inter-Municipal Cooperation Protocol.

West Hants might opt to take part at some later date.

Windsor outgoing Mayor Anna Allen said this protocol was something she had been working toward for a long time and signing it with Hantsport, on her final day in office, made her more than happy.

The relationship between these two towns is already great, but there is always room to make things easier, Allen said. “It (the protocol) guides a way to do business together.”

The protocol should strengthen the relationship between the towns because there is now a constant awareness of wanting to work together, Allen said. “It’s another tool to better serve residents. We’re both very optimistic about it. I can only see the good in it.”

Hantsport Mayor Wayne Folker said there is a level of comfort that comes from signing this protocol because it will help if there’s a problem in a joint project between the towns.

It presents an avenue to follow, Folker said. “I think this is another step into the future.”

The aim of the cooperation protocol is to avoid duplicating efforts of neighbouring towns, to access more revenues and recourses for citizens, to save money through sharing costs and to provide new local services in relation to community needs.

The Municipality of West Hants was given an opportunity to sign the cooperation protocol with Windsor and Hantsport but decided to decline doing it for now.

Warden Richard Dauphinee said there was a presentation at a joint council meeting concerning this protocol about a year ago. “We didn’t feel at the time we needed it.”

This may be something to revisit in the future, as the municipality will watch closely how this works out for Windsor and Hantsport, Dauphinee said. “Nothing is set in stone now. “If it does work, we still might be interested,” Dauphinee said. “It just didn’t look like it was working in some other places. And, we didn’t really want to be locked to anything.”

Also, town and municipalities operate different, Dauphinee said. “It’s a different layout.”

If it makes sense to pursue something jointly, council will, as this municipality gets along with other communities, Dauphinee added. “But, it is not the time to sign this (protocol).”