Mayors representing three of the largest municipalities in the province have signed a letter of intent to establish a Regional Economic Development Agency to develop regional partnership opportunities, but one key player has opted out of the initiative

St. John’s Mayor Danny Breen signed the agreement with Paradise Mayor Dan Bobbett and CBS Mayor Darrin Bent this morning.

The independent agency will have representation from each municipality on a regional governance board.

One municipality not represented, however, will be the city of Mount Pearl.

Breen, Bobbett, and Bent would not get into much detail when asked about why the city decided not to participate.

“You’d have to ask Mount Pearl that” says Mayor Bent, who notes that they were part of the discussions up until the eleventh hour, and at the end of the day decided to do something different.

Aker Responds

Mount Pearl Mayor Dave Aker says regional economic development initiatives are a priority, but the city has decided to take a different approach in this case, noting that they want to do something that makes sense to the city.

At the end of the day, Aker says council was not in agreement with the structure that would be put in place. He says they don’t want to spend unneeded money on administration, and they feel the needs of the region can be best met with conversations around the table.