ARICHAT - Barring a last-minute surge of negative opinion from Richmond County residents, a revised set of municipal boundaries for the current five council districts will be on its way to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (UARB) by this time next week. 

The board gave Richmond Municipal Council an extension on its late-December deadline to submit the preferred boundaries and number of councillors to be considered for the next two municipal elections in 2024 and 2028. This gave the municipality time to hold one final internet survey on the issue, which garnered 106 responses before it officially closed on January 15, and to hold six open houses in communities across the county throughout the month of January. 

According to Richmond Warden Amanda Mombourquette, this direct consultation with Richmond County residents gave councillors the information they needed to vote unanimously on a five-councillor system that will see some movement of boundary lines around various communities, during a special council meeting that took place at the Richmond Municipal Building in Arichat on March 31. 

Rejecting a scenario that would have seen Isle Madame-based District Two expanded to take on several western Richmond County communities in nearby District Three, the community of Lennox Passage will move from District Two to District Three and the majority of Arichat residents will be reassigned from District Two to District One. 

In the meantime, District Three will cede Thibeauville to District Four, which also takes in the entirety of the community of Grande-Greve, which was previously split between Districts Four and Five. In exchange for this movement, District Five will take on the community of Lynches' River, which had previously been found in District Four. 

District One Councillor Shawn Samson, whose constituency will now have more Arichat residents as a result of these changes, told Roundtable host Adam Cooke during an interview at the Telile Community Television studios that the changes reflect the true wishes of Richmond County residents as gleaned from the January open houses. He continued to question the accuracy of the recent internet survey and claimed it was open to abuse from one or more people placing multiple votes for a specific governance option from the same internet provider (IP). 

A decision from the UARB on the Richmond municipal boundaries submission is expected to take place over the next four months.