The village centre of Dorchester is going to see some changes in the coming years, if plans passed as part of Tantramar’s budget 2024 recommendations Tuesday night come to fruition. On Tuesday, council approved a staff recommendation to spend about $25,000 cleaning up the mold problem in the old village office building which has been closed since February. Staff will then look into moving the Dorchester Public Library from a rented space into the town-owned building at the village centre.

The town has also budgeted to begin design of a new fire hall for Dorchester which could be built by 2026. The fire hall will include some space that could be used as a municipal office as needed, but with no regular staffing in place.

Local councillor Debbie Wiggins Colwell said after the meeting that she thought moving the library was “an excellent idea”, but hoped the municipal office planned for the fire hall would open regularly to serve area residents. “That’s been very important, to have her our village office open,” said Wiggins-Colwell. “Even if it was a half a day, five days a week… [We] very, very much need it.”

Council allotted $1.5 million in the 2024 capital budget to go towards the projects.