Determining the fate of the proposed Three Rivers region is now a game of “wait and see.”
The future of the region and what it will look like are now in the hands of IRAC after a Three Rivers Steering Committee submitted an application requesting amalgamation of the area on Tuesday.
That application, submitted on behalf of the communities of Cardigan, Brudenell, Lorne Valley, Lower Montague and Valleyfield, also requests Georgetown and Montague be included in the amalgamation despite the two councils of those communities having voted to exit the process.
Brian Harding, chairman of the steering committee, said he believes IRAC will now review the application before making a recommendation, which could include the proposal as written or with modifications, to the province’s executive council.
“It’s totally out of our hands… not just the steering committee, it’s totally out of the hands of the five municipalities that made the application,” he said. “It’s now wait and see what IRAC does or says needs to be done.”
Communities Minister Richard Brown confirmed on Tuesday the “application for restructuring” is now before IRAC.
“The application is now in IRAC’s hands. I look forward to the continuation of this process and IRAC’s review of the submission,” said Brown in a statement.
Related: Three Rivers amalgamation proposal dates back several years
Harding said it wasn’t a tough decision to include Montague and Georgetown in the application, as well as residents in the unincorporated areas of the three fire districts involved.
He said the five other councils felt the proposal had the best merit in moving the region forward.
“I think people are losing sight… any one of the seven incorporated communities could have made this application and it happens to be five of them,” said Harding, noting the five municipalities combined have about the same population of Montague but about $70 million more in tax assets.
“We were disappointed Montague pulled away and voted against (the proposal); by the same token that was their democratic right. But don’t let it minimize the value of the other five municipalities.”
The proposal was based on the MRSB financial report and presentation given to the public last August.
At the time, all seven communities were still involved in the discussions.
Harding said if the application is accepted, it would see a minimum of $450,000 more in gas tax funding for infrastructure to the Three Rivers region every year.
He said the steering committee has now finished its mandate and described the group of those involved as “second-to-none.”
“We looked at what was best for future sustainability and prosperity of the Three Rivers area,” said Harding. “It was totally non-partisan and, of course, there were disagreements… we hashed them out and made adjustments and so on. To us, the focus was always the end goal of making this area stronger.”
