The reeve of North Huron feels a joint meeting with council members of his municipality and neighbouring Morris-Turnberry is the next step toward amalgamation of the two municipalities.
On December 5, Bernie Bailey said during his first council meeting as reeve that he was looking into amalgamation, which Morris-Turnberry Mayor Jamie Heffer later objected to, saying Morris-Turnberry has no interest.
Bailey has asked North Huron CAO Dwayne Evans to send information to Morris-Turnberry council regarding current partnerships between the two municipalities and said he views this as the first step towards an eventual joint council meeting.
He said this allows each council "a chance to look at what's going on".
North Huron Reeve Bernie Bailey (photo by Adam Bell)
"I spoke to Jamie at county council last week and we had that discussion," said Bailey. "I think it's a good beginning, and just have a 'get to know each other', not get down to much nitty-gritty and move forward from that."
When asked in December 2018 about potential amalgamation with North Huron, Heffer said, "We have five bordering municipalities, some of which we will work with more closely than others. We need to remain autonomous as the municipality of Morris-Turnberry, but we also need to look forward to working together with each of our neighbouring municipalities, so that we may grow a strong and greater community around us."