Mayor glad for gathering
Reps from Deh Cho and South Slave communities discuss co-operation
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Monday, January 30, 2017
HAY RIVER
Mayor Brad Mapes is pleased with the result of a recent meeting to discuss possible money-saving co-operation among Hay River and other communities.
"It was a great meeting," said Mapes, who proposed the gathering, which was organized in Hay River by the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Along with Hay River, the meeting involved mayors, chiefs and other representatives from the Hay River Reserve, Fort Smith, Fort Resolution, Enterprise, Kakisa and Fort Providence.
"What we did is we brought forth six ideas that they're going to bring back to their councils to discuss, and what we've decided is we're going to look at forming a committee that we can meet maybe every two months as one group," said Mapes, adding subcommittees might also later be formed to discuss specific issues.
The six areas of further discussion and possibly co-operation are: A regional waste management site; protective services and animal shelters; packaging public works projects together to lower costs and sharing a building/development officer; preparing a yearly calendar of events to prevent overlap; working on shared computer services and websites and creating the regional committee.
"They're all ideas that are really feasible," said Mapes. "At the end of the day, what we're doing is the town is not looking at making money off these communities.
"We're trying to have common goals and how we can control our expenses going forward."
For example, he said that all the communities feel there is a need to figure out a waste management plan.
Another meeting is set for March 16.
Mapes said that, for Hay River, co-operating with the other communities is more than a chance to save money but is also an opportunity to be a good neighbour.
The mayor said it took a while to get the meeting but it was worth the effort.
"It's a lot easier when you can shake somebody's hand and you can have a roundtable and discuss ideas," he said.
Mapes said the communities also discussed the idea of writing letters of support for Hay River in seeking the return of a remand centre at the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre.
The meeting on Jan. 20 lasted just two-and-a-half hours.
The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs won't be involved in organizing the meeting in March. Instead, that gathering will be organized by the communities themselves.
