Bashaw’s town council isn’t sold on the necessity of a Joint Use Planning Agreement (JUPA) with the Battle River School Division.
The document was before council for discussion during its April 10 meeting.
“Realistically, the problem it solves is if you get a new school on a new school site,” said chief administrative officer (CAO) Theresa Fuller.
A requirement for the creation of JUPAs between municipalities and school divisions province-wide was introduced with an amendment to the Municipal Government Act in 2020.
While the deadline for the implementation of JUPAs was set for the end of June 2023, the deadline was subsequently extended.
The agreements would allow the municipality to access school division-owned facilities and allow school divisions to access municipally controlled facilities if they wanted.
Set within the agreement are provisions for maintenance costs and conflict resolutions.
“I see no reason for us to sign this,” said Mayor Rob McDonald.
“There’s nothing in here for us.”
The agreement reviewed by council was based on a template developed by Parkland Community Planning Services and used by municipalities ranging in size from small urban towns the size of Bashaw to big centres like Red Deer and Edmonton.
According to the “frequently asked questions” document on the Government of Alberta website, Municipal Affairs introduced the requirement for JUPAs to “enable the integrated and long-term planning and use of school sites.”
Fuller noted one aspect of the agreement that concerned administration was a section indicating that any costs associated with land transfer would be borne by the municipality. She noted that in the case of a land-title transfer, costs would be “fairly minimal,” but in the case of a situation where the municipality had to start sub-dividing land, costs could escalate quickly.
Ultimately, council directed Fuller to contact Municipal Affairs to find out exactly why the agreement was needed and to get more information before bringing it back to a subsequent meeting.
Interest transfers
The town has transferred around $23,000 worth of funds generated by GIC investment interest into restricted reserves.
“This is fairly explanatory,” said Fuller.
Just under $5,400 was transferred to the Water-Restricted Operating surplus, and around $18,000 was transferred to the Roads-Operating Surplus accounts.
Water pricing
Council discussed water pricing as a final item on the agenda.
Fuller noted that water losses, which had been over 33 per cent in 2023, were down to 22 per cent as of the latest report.
“The province is collectively asking municipalities to save 10 per cent,” said Kyle McIntosh, happy about the news and noting that it was a positive that Bashaw could “save 11 per cent right off the hop.”
According to Fuller, the town is projecting to purchase 90,000 cubic metres of water from the Highway 12/21 water commission in 2024 and based on the first three months of the year she was “confident” that sales and losses are in line with the projections.