Bridgetown's mayor and town council resigned en masse Tuesday in the face of mounting financial difficulties, leaving the small Annapolis Valley town with no government.

 

To make matters worse, news surfaced earlier in the day that police are conducting a forensic investigation into the possible theft of money from town coffers. An accounts receivable clerk at town hall was fired two weeks ago.

Departing mayor Art Marshall said in a prepared statement Tuesday that council resigned "due to the magnitude and complexity of the town's financial problems, and the lack of financial and human resoces to manage them."

He said council was acting on the advice of professional and legal consultants "to make way for a quicker resolution of the town's present difficulties."

Bridgetown, population 972, recently borrowed $1 million to upgrade its water system to meet new provincial standards and was planning to double its water rates to recoup some of the investment.

 

The town has an aging population and has been losing residents and businesses, so its tax base is shrinking.

"Essentially, we're stepping aside to make way for people with greater expertise," said Marshall, who was in his first full term after winning a byelection to replace a resigning mayor halfway through the previous term.

Marshall could not say how Bridgetown will be managed in the absence of a mayor and council.

 

"We have advised our municipal adviser with Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations of the action that council has taken," he said. "I guess it's now in their hands to take whatever next steps are necessary."

Marshall said the town has been without a chief administrative officer and was short-staffed in the finance department.

 

"We have a fairly serious cash flow problem," he said. "We have a small and dwindling tax base and we have huge demands being placed on the town."

Marshall confirmed that the RCMP were called a week ago and are investigating the town's finances in the wake of the firing of the clerk.

 

"There is a fairly extensive police and forensic investigation underway into some of the financial issues that have arisen," the outgoing mayor said.

Council passed a motion at a special meeting May 16 that finance employee Melissa Young be dismissed "for cause," effective immediately.

No council members are subjects of the police investigation, Marshall said.

An Annapolis RCMP spokesman confirmed the investigation is underway.

"Police received a complaint of potential theft from the Town of Bridgetown," Cpl. Dale Guy said. "We are investigating to determine if there was any criminal wrongdoing."

The province is evaluating how Bridgetown will move forward, town solicitor John Cameron said Tuesday.

 

"The town will continue to operate but is not in any position to make any changes in policy or anything else that would have to go through council," he said.

Town staff will handle day-to-day business, operation of the water and sewer systems, inspections and emergency issues, he said.

"Services will be provided in the foreseeable future, but nothing new can be undertaken," Cameron said. "And the decision as to where we go is not ours, it's with the minister."

 

Municipal Relations Minister John MacDonell said staff told him a couple of months ago about Bridgetown's financial issues, and a department staffer was dispatched last week to work there two days a week.

But with the resignations, two people from the department will now go there for a few days, "and then we'll just see where things go," MacDonell said.

Neither he nor Cameron could recall a municipal government in Nova Scotia ever resigning en masse.

 

Bridgetown was buzzing with talk about the developments Tuesday.

"It's very big news in a small town . . . and not very good news," said one longtime businessman who asked that he not be identified.

"I don't like it because it's not good for the town to be without control. We hope that things will be straightened out soon, but it doesn't look good."

Kirk Lycett, owner of the Bridgetown Pharmasave and president of the local chamber of commerce, said people were aware of problems at town hall but didn't know they were this bad.

 

"We all had a pretty good idea it was not good, but the impression was that it wasn't insurmountable," he said.

"We still have to go on with our day-to-day activities," but the town has no approved budget or tax rates for this fiscal year, Lycett said. "We don't know what the assessments or what the taxes are going to be.

 

"There is no chain of command. We don't know what to do or where to go for town business.

 

"The void in town hall will have to be filled. If there is no representation from the town, it will have to come from the province . . . and the sooner the better."

MacDonell said he wouldn't want to wait more than a month before calling an election.

He said other small municipalities in the province, most notably Canso, are also facing financial problems.

 

"There's certainly more than a couple who worry about the erosion of their tax base and the ability to deliver services," he said.

Cameron said there is no certainty Bridgetown will continue in its present form. One option could be to become a village in the Municipality of Annapolis.

( gdelaney@herald.ca)

( djackson@herald.ca)