Boundary dispute

Three Rivers talks to proceed without Montague

The remaining communities involved in establishing a Three Rivers regional municipality intend to proceed with the process even though the Town of Montague opted out of the game plan earlier this week.

“We are certainly disappointed the Montague mayor and council have decided to no longer participate in this regional initiative, but the rest of us have not wavered from our original commitment,’’ said Mayor Lewis Lavandier of Georgetown.

The group of six has released a joint statement of support for the Three Rivers initiative to proceed and will meet privately next week.

“The chair and councils of the six communities have communicated over the last couple of days and we plan to proceed,’’ said Lavandier.

The town of Montague announced earlier this week that it disagreed with the proposed boundaries for the Three Rivers region and preferred to work on an amalgamation effort using the current fire district boundaries.

That would leave Georgetown, Cardigan and Lorne Valley out of the plan.

However, the six communities — Georgetown, Cardigan, Lorne Valley, Brudenell, Valleyfield and Lower Montague — have every intention to proceed without Montague.

“All of us remain committed to exploring ways of strengthening the Three Rivers region. We began in the spirit of regional co-operation for the betterment of all communities involved and for the larger Three Rivers region.”

The province has confirmed continued support for the process, and Lavandier expected each community council will issue formal statements of support as well.