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Bashaw, Camrose County on track to approve agreements by end of year

Progress going smoothly on provincially mandated deals between neighbouring municipalities
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This map was among the many documents available for residents to check during the Sept. 19 open house on the ICF and IDP agreements between Bashaw and Camrose County. Photo by Jordie Dwyer

Everything is moving fairly effortlessly as Bashaw and Camrose County push ahead with a pair of cooperative agreements.

An open house held Sept. 19 at the Bashaw Community Centre attracted a few residents who wanted to learn more about the new deals, which have been mandated by the province — the Intermunicipal Collaborative Framework (ICF) and the Intermunicipal Development Plan (IDP).

Drafts of each document were made available along with maps and included a brief presentation about the process and details of the documents from the consultants.

The revised Municipal Government Act (MGA) mandates that there must be an IDP and ICF in place with any neighbouring municipality by April 2020.

Earlier this year, Bashaw and Camrose County came together to hire a consultant to assist in the process of developing the two agreements — one that has been fairly simple when compared to other regions.

“(This process) is really just a formalization of the great relationship that we have had with the county over many years,” explained Bashaw Mayor Penny Shantz.

“We have had excellent communication with the county, with each of us recognizing that we need to do what is best for our communities.”

Camrose County south Coun. Jack Lyle concurred with Shantz and noted the same process is happening with all of the other municipal neighbours the county has.

“With Bashaw, we’ve had a development agreement for many years and in the end, this process is merely just detailing what we already have,” said Lyle.

The fact is, Bashaw and Camrose County have long had in place an agreement on consulting each other regarding any or possible development in areas along their municipal boundaries, so the IDP is simply a rewriting of that into a document.

As for the ICF, this new document just combines the current arrangements — the regional fire service agreement as well as the funding deals on recreation and FCSS (Family and Community Support Services) — while including two items that are required.

Those are: processes to solve any issues that crop up — shared services funding, projects, etc — within the scope of the ICF as well as a dispute resolution framework if talks between the two parties break down on any issue, including property development in the IDP.

If a break down occurs, a range of efforts — from negotiations to mediation or even going as far as binding arbitration — will take place to settle the disagreement.

The next step will come in October when the two municipal councils will approve first reading of the proposed agreements. That will be followed up with each municipality hosting a formal public hearing and then possible revisions made based upon any feedback received.

If any changes are made, both councils would have to agree.

More information on the agreements is available in a couple of ways — heading to www.townofbashaw.com or www.county.camrose.ab.ca, or by contacting either municipal office by phone at (Bashaw) 780-372-3911 and (Camrose County) 780-672-4446.