Hantsport mayor and council to decide town's fate

Hantsport, in the Annapolis Valley, is the latest small Nova Scotia town to face the prospect of dissolution.

The mayor and town councillors will decide the towns future at a council meeting next week.

Should it dissolve, it will be the third town to do so in a month after Bridgetown and Springhill.

At a packed town meeting in a school gym on Wednesday, dozens of people stepped up to the mic to tell the mayor and councillors how they felt.

Since 1895 the town has relied on a strong commercial base. The Avon River supplied a way to ship materials like gypsum, but it's been several years since any boats have been filled in Hantsport.

The town could still exist but it would require a significant hike in the residential tax rate.

Hantsport Mayor Robbie Zwicker says it is likely the town will be dissolved.

"The dissolution process is actually fairly simple, said Zwicker. We dissolve first and then we look at negotiations as far as do we look at West Hants, do we look at Kings, and figure out which is the best model for our citizens.

If town council decides to dissolve at the council meeting next week, they will have a year to choose which municipality to join.