Dissolve town now but ...

Dissolve Hantsport now to get best possible deal. But the dissolution process can be stopped before URB's  final hearing. This was the consensus after a lively discussion which included tension, passion, facts, and humour.

As residents gathered for the regular Committee of the Whole meeting on April 15, they spread outside the council chambers. They urged Mayor Rob Zwicker to sit in a seat better suited to everyone hearing him. And he did.

After the incredibly short COW meeting, residents spoke on a number of issues. Think Hantsport Coalition was the new player in the discussion. Paul Syme spoke for the group which formed following the April 9 meeting.

The coalition agreed that the town is in a dire situation. It added that in the new economy, new solutions are needed. It agreed with Sir Graham Day's suggestions that small towns need to be positive and focus on their strengths. To consult broadly with the community. To do its homework. To take time to find new solutions. The coalition is not opposed to dissolution. It wants to know how it can help the town move forward. "More heads. More ideas."

Others in favour of an immediate start in the dissolution process expressed concern about staying with the status quo: higher taxes, crumbling infra structure.

When the meeting concluded shortly after 9 PM, the consensus was to start dissolving the town but to realize that the process can be stopped.  At the same time, Think Hantsport Coalition will follow its own timetable and present its findings to the town at the October council meeting.