Baddeck residents overwhelmingly vote no to dissolving village

Residents of Baddeck, N.S., have overwhelmingly voted down a proposal to dissolve their village and merge with Victoria County.

The village commissioners voted to start the dissolution process last month, saying they don't have the resources to continue with services such as sewer, water and sidewalk clearing.

However, the electors say they are not ready to give up just yet.

More than 150 people attended a special meeting on Thursday night at the Inverary Resort to consider dissolution and many had questions, but most were frustrated at the lack of answers.

Resident Tracey Campbell said there were no handouts at the meeting and no financial statements.

"It's very difficult to make a decision of this magnitude when you don't have that kind of information," she said.

Throughout the evening, commissioners said they could not provide all the answers due to legal issues involving personnel.

In October, they fired the chief administrative officer and hired former Richmond County and Port Hawkesbury CAO Maris Freimanis to take over on an interim basis.

Freimanis said the village has not produced audited financial statements for two years and said two accounting firms he spoke to say it will be "almost impossible" to do so now.

He said there is money in four of the village's six bank accounts, but most of it is earmarked for specific expenses and can't be used for general operations.

"I'm not going to say we're bankrupt, but we're very borderline," Freimanis said.

The village used to have its utility and tax bills sent out by Victoria County. The previous administrator was in the process of trying to do that herself this year.

Freimanis said the bills are now going out late and the village needs the money to come in to continue operating.

Michele Stephens was the only village commissioner who spoke against dissolution.