PORT HAWKESBURY - Following a squabble between the two sides that took nearly a year to resolve, Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton is pleased to see a new deal reached between the Town of Port Hawkesbury and neighbouring Richmond County to see fire protection provided for the Richmond County community of Point Tupper.

In late March, the two sides jointly announced that they had reached a 10-year contract that will see the county pay the town for its volunteer fire department to provide exclusive protection services to Point Tupper, which lies just outside the town boundaries and is home to several key heavy industries that employ thousands of local residents. 

Speaking to TELILE 24/7 host/producer Adam Cooke in her office at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre on April 7, Mayor Chisholm-Beaton credited veteran town councillor Mark MacIver for the suggestion to sign a 10-year deal in an effort to end the "instability" that had plagued these discussions for several months. 

Over the previous three years, Richmond County had changed its service provider for Point Tupper three times, twice requesting that the Louisdale and District Volunteer Fire Department - located 45 kilometres away from Point Tupper - answer calls coming from residents and businesses in the community. 

Asked if the election of an entirely-new Richmond Municipal Council this past October had changed the tone of the conversations between the county and the town on this issue, Chisholm-Beaton was reluctant to speak to individual personalities but did suggest that "the temperature had changed" since a heated debate on Point Tupper fire service protection erupted last spring when the previous Richmond council refused to meet Port Hawkesbury's funding demands. 

The new decade-long deal will see Richmond County initially pay the town $60,000 for the services of its volunteer fire department, with that figure increasing by $1,000 for each year of the contract.