Amalgamation of the towns of Catalina, Port Union and Melrose

Jack Byrne, Minister of Municipal and Provincial Affairs, announced today that the Towns of Catalina, Port Union and Melrose will be disincorporated to establish the new Town of Trinity Bay North, effective January 1, 2005.

"This is an initiative that the three town councils decided on some time ago because they wanted to provide their residents with better delivery and enhanced municipal services," said Minister Byrne.

By working together as the Town of Trinity Bay North, Catalina, Port Union and Melrose can offer a reasonable tax structure that is consistent with other towns in Newfoundland and Labrador. This will ultimately help them attain the financial stability necessary to provide improvements in municipal infrastructure. Currently, the three communities have a combined debt of approximately $2 million. The provincial government will be writing off approximately $1.7 million of this debt during the amalgamation process. Funding will be sourced from the $9 million Debt Relief Fund announced in Budget 2004-05.

"The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador felt that it was important to help the new Town of Trinity Bay North from the outset," said Minister Byrne. "We did not want to see this new town have to struggle under a significant debt burden before it even had a chance to succeed."

In addition, by coming together, many duplications of services such as administration will be avoided.

Government does not believe in forced amalgamation. Municipalities must come forward with the request and must have a consensus, which is the case in this situation. However, government does support regionalization of services. By consolidating municipal services, many municipalities, as well as the provincial government, can achieve significant savings.

"Assisting communities in their efforts toward regional cooperation is consistent with the vision of the Department of Municipal and Provincial Affairs, which is that the people of Newfoundland and Labrador enjoy healthy, safe and sustainable communities supported by strong local governments," said Minister Byrne. "I am confident that the new Town of Trinity Bay North is now on a path to becoming a vibrant rural municipality. I commend all those who were involved in successfully incorporating these three towns into the Town of Trinity Bay North."

Media contact: Vanessa Colman-Sadd, Communications, (709) 729-1983

2004 06 09                                         9:45 a.m.