Richmond County has voted to retain the Louisdale Volunteer Fire Department to conduct fire 
service in Point Tupper.
After a meeting between Richmond municipal council and staff, and Port Hawkesbury Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton and Chief Administrative Officer Terry Doyle on July 29, council recently voted “unanimously” to stay with the Louisdale department, according to Richmond Warden Brian Marchand.
On June 23, the Municipality of the County of Richmond issued a press release that it decided to go with other options for fire service protection in an area of the municipality covering the industrial park in Point Tupper, which houses operations like Port Hawkesbury Paper paper mill, the Nova Scotia Power generating station, the Renewable Energy Services wind farm, and NuStar Energy terminals.
Richmond County said the town submitted a contract to the municipality on June 11 seeking a 50 per cent increase in fees.
In 2019, the municipality and the town entered into a one-year fire protection agreement at a cost of $49,645 for the 12 month period ending July 14, 2020.
The town responded that the cost-sharing agreement they reached with Richmond County was fair, and that the Port Hawkesbury Volunteer Fire Department is the natural responding agency to the Point Tupper area because of its proximity, quick response time, large volunteer base, training, and equipment.