Councillors Ponder Future Role of Head, Clara & Maria

News / Feature Councillors ponder future role of Head, Clara & Maria

BY VANCE GUTZMAN

Small municipalities such as Head, Clara and Maria don't always have a lot to offer their neighbours.

That was the consensus around the council table in the townships last week when the spectre of municipal amalgamation was raised for discussion.

What councillors were discussing was an invitation from Rolph, Buchanan, Wylie and McKay to attend a meeting, along with Chalk River, to discuss the sharing of services between the three municipalities.

Head, Clara and Maria had been using the grader from RBWM this month for its roadwork. It was felt by council, however, that this was not really a shared service, since the municipality was essentially just renting the equipment.

Councillor Jim Allison pointed out that Head, Clara and Maria would be limited in any service-sharing agreement as it doesn't have a fire truck or road equipment like the grader it had to rent.

No date has been set for the meeting, but councillor Bill Croshaw said council should take RBWM up on its invitation so as not to be left in the dark.

"If we don't go and listen to them, we don't know," he said.

Reeve Lita Therrien expressed concerns about the format of the meeting, particularly as Deep River is not on the guest list. The town and RBWM have had a relatively cool relationship for over a year, since the town¬ships withdrew from the Deep River Area Economic Development Department.

Therrien said last week that she has always considered North Renfrew to be made up of four municipalities - not three.

"We have to be careful we don't get in the middle of something," the reeve said.

"That's the only thing that's holding me back." Councillor Barry Jennings agreed with the reeve's concerns.

"There's a missing piece to the puzzle," he said of Deep River's absence from the invitation.