Joint meeting planned in eastern Shelburne to look at shared services

The three municipal units that make up eastern Shelburne County want to find ways to better work together.

Shelburne, Lockeport and the Municipality of Shelburne will be holding a public meeting Nov. 22 at 6:30 p.m. at the community centre men's room in Shelburne.

This will be the second meeting to take place to look at the potential for shared services between the municipalities. All three units - including 20 councillors and support staff - will meet.

After the last municipal elections were held a year ago, Shelburne Mayor Karen Mattatall reached out to the new warden of the municipality, Penny Smith, and Lockeport mayor George Harding to ask if they were interested in combined meetings involving whole councils, says Shelburne chief administrative officer Dylan Heide.

Already, the three units share some services like mutual aid and waste co-ordination, but Heide says are opportunities for more co-operation.

"Why not do it together," he says.

He points to last year's drought as one simple example of a co-ordinated effort that could benefit residents. The town provided water to both the residents of the municipality and its own residents at no cost.

The same drought caused issues where the town needed to use the municipality's sewer treatment plant to sludge off waste.

Heide says this kind of mutual help can be provided at no cost in the future.

"We should try to help each other using common sense in services," he says.

Other items on the agenda include discussing a shared dog bylaw enforcement officer, shared economic development opportunities, shared public works resources, planning and development and recreation.

Heide says this meeting is discussion only; it will be up to each individual council to propose changes within its own municipality if potential shared services are identified.

"Hopefully, this will encourage councils to talk and explore opportunities together and foster co-operation," he says.

The sessions are open to the public and Heide is hoping people will attend.