Richmond Council Ponders Hikes To Travel Budget and Feasibility Study Price-Tag

ARICHAT - How much is too much to spend on a feasibility study for a new multi-purpose recreational facility or to spend on the cost of sending Richmond County's warden to an international wind-energy conference in Denmark? 

Richmond municipal councillors grappled with these shifting financial realities as they held their latest regular monthly meeting at the Richmond Municipal Building in Arichat, Nova Scotia, on Monday evening. 

The concept of building a new multi-purpose facility to replace the aging Richmond Arena on Whiteside Road, just outside of Louisdale, was first suggested just over a year ago. However, while municipal staff were hoping to see the cost of a feasibility study for the project come in at around $50,000, the lowest bid submitted following a Request For Proposals (RFP) for the development is $130,000, nearly triple that figure.

Following a lengthy discussion of the issue, councillors decided to give municipal staff another month to try to work out this cost within the county's upcoming budget deliberations. 

In the meantime, councillors have voted to increase the 2023-24 travel budget for Warden Amanda Mombourquette from $4,000 to $10,000, to cover the $5,700 cost of attending the WindEurope 2023 conference in Denmark's capital of Cophenhagen from April 23-29. 

At the request of District Three Councillor Melanie Sampson, the travel budget increase will only exist for the current fiscal year. Warden Mombourquette, who was invited to represent the Strait Area Offshore Wind Task Force at the conference, noted during the council meeting that she has only spent 40 per cent of her travel budget for the current year, which is consistent with prudent and frugal use of councillors' travel expenses for the past year. 

Also on this week's TELILE 24/7:

* 5:52 - Jessica MacDonald, the Human Resources Advisor for the Cape Breton Partnership (CBP), discusses four job fairs the organization is hosting across Cape Breton in April, including an April 13 recruiting event in Louisdale. 

* 24:56 - Port Hawkesbury lawyer Patrick Lamey, a partner in the long-running town firm EMM Law, speaks of his recent King's Counsel designation and the significance of being among the first group of Nova Scotia lawyers to receive this designation following last summer's passing of Queen Elizabeth II.