PEI

Three Rivers steering committee to consider amalgamation options

The steering committee in Three Rivers, P.E.I., will meet Wednesday to decide how to proceed with amalgamation plans, which could still include communities that voted not to be a part of the proposal.

A decision will be made to determine which communities will be included in the final proposal

The Three Rivers amalgamation proposal could still be submitted to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission by the steering committee. (www.3riverspei.com)

The Three Rivers amalgamation proposal in eastern P.E.I. could still move forward, even though some communities have voted to no longer be a part of the process.

The proposal to join the seven communities and three unincorporated areas could still go ahead with an application to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC).

Brian Harding chairs the Three Rivers steering committee and said it will have a meeting Wednesday for the members to discuss how to move forward.

The proposal made to the government in August 2017 was for the amalgamation of the Three Rivers region, which would create the Island's fourth largest municipality.

It would include the seven communities of Montague, Georgetown, Lower Montague, Brudenell, Cardigan, Lorne Valley and Valleyfield, as well as the unincorporated fire districts areas of Montague, Georgetown and Cardigan.

Full amalgamation could still be proposed

Harding said Monday's vote in Montague, which was 3-2 against the amalgamation plan, was disappointing but well within the council's right.

He said the steering committee will now meet to determine how to proceed, including submitting the original proposal for all of the communities to join.

"What it means is under the Municipal Government Act, that one, two, three, four, five communities can still make application to the government to consider the proposal that was presented to them back in August."

Minister Brown said that the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission will weigh the public votes and community decisions if it is given the Three Rivers amalgamation proposal. (Krystalle Ramlakhan/CBC)

Richard Brown, minister of communities, land and environment, confirmed that the steering committee can still move the application forward.

Any community can put forward to IRAC a plan of communities getting together for the betterment of the area.— Richard Brown, minister of communities, land and environment

"Any community can put forward to IRAC a plan of communities getting together for the betterment of the area. IRAC then will take that plan, review it and have public meetings and make a recommendation back to province," Brown said.

"IRAC has the authority to review the plan, to work out with the communities a variation of the plan if they want, but at the end of the day IRAC's decision will be coming to the cabinet and the cabinet will make the final decision."

Future of the region

Harding said that he won't speak for what the steering committee will do Wednesday evening, but says they are committed to planning for the region's future.

"It's been an emotional issue but hopefully as time goes on, people will see the benefits that are created if it does go ahead and this isn't a one, two, three, four year thing," he said. "This is a five, 10, 15, 20 years down the road to make this community, this region more viable."

With files from Sarah MacMillan and Laura Chapin