Parrsboro Mayor Lois Smith says next Thursday’s public meeting on the possibility of amalgamation with Cumberland County will likely be one of several such meetings if citizens appear open to the idea.

“We wouldn’t be doing our job as a Town Council if we didn’t look into all the alternatives,” the mayor said during a phone interview this morning.

She added that Town Council wanted to have a meeting in the winter, but couldn’t find suitable dates and had to work around the weather. She said Thursday’s will enable summer residents to participate as well.

Public notice

The Town issued a notice yesterday on its Facebook page inviting residents and taxpayers to attend the meeting at the Parrsboro Fire Hall at 7 p.m. on Thursday, August 13.

“The Council would like to hear from you, the residents and taxpayers, regarding your thoughts and opinions about both the recent Springhill merger with the County, and how you feel about a similar potential merger for the Town of Parrsboro,” the notice says.

Mayor Smith said Town Council was not responding to pressure from the province when it decided to call the meeting adding that, at the moment, council is neutral on the issue.

She emphasized that maintaining effective services such as snow plowing would be of  “utmost importance” if the town did eventually decide to join the County.

She also noted that like other towns in the province, Parrsboro faces a declining population.