The Mayor of Lytton says while there are likely to be challenges, she is not stopping in her bid to rebuild the fire-ravaged community, despite suggestions from another local politician that the village might not remain a viable municipality.

Denise O’Connor says she was surprised to hear the TNRD’s Lytton-area Director Tricia Thorpe suggest openly that discussions are underway behind the scenes as to whether or not the village will have enough people returning to fund municipal operations through a much smaller tax base.

Speaking on the NL Noon Report, O’Connor did concede she is still not sure how many are planning to rebuild, but says that’s not a factor for her work.

“As mayor and council here, we were elected to recover and rebuild the community and that is what our focus is, and that is what we are going to do,” O’Connor said.

“We’re not going to look at other options at this point at all.”

Speaking during the January TNRD Board Meeting, Thorpe said she did not think that the Village of Lytton would be able to support itself financially after the rebuild.

“While the Village of Lytton has been promised government funding to rebuild, will they be able to cover the costs of day-to-day operations?” Thorpe said, noting Lytton struggled financially before the June 2021 wildfire.

Thorpe also said there are fewer and fewer people who appear interested in wanting to move back to Lytton to re-build.

“How will the village be able to carry on, once the province steps back? Are we hitching our cart to a dying pony?” Thorpe added.

“These are concerns and conversations that are taking place behind closed doors and I think the time has come where we all need to address these issues head-on, openly, and pragmatically.”

O’Connor did admit that there are concerns about the size of the tax base to maintain municipal operations.

“That is a challenge we have and recognize that but I don’t want to stop and analyze that right now,” she said. “We have an economic recovery plan that has been competed for Lytton and we’re looking at those recommendations.”

Construction is underway on one house after a building permit was issued in late October, with more permits expected to be approved this spring.

“Its difficult,” O’Connor said, when asked how many people will return to Lytton to rebuild. “I don’t have exact numbers at all, but pleasantly just the last month, I’ve heard of two more that have made the decision to rebuild.”

In the meantime, O’Connor said Lytton Village council is moving ahead with establishing a temporary fire hall.

It is also putting out requests for proposals to have architectural drawings made up, as the village is sitting on about $64-million in federal grant money meant to support the rebuild of municipal amenities.