Athabasca County councillors are tired of waiting for the summer villages to respond to proposals and want them to step up and contribute financially to municipal services like the Athabasca Regional Multiplex.
At the county council meeting on Oct. 9, councillors were in the process of adopting the minutes from the Summer Village Mayors and Councillors meeting from Sept. 8 when councillor Mike Demko said the summer villages haven’t responded to some county proposals regarding financial contributions, and that he would like to see things change as soon as possible.
He said he wanted to set up a meeting with the summer villages to discuss the issue because it’s not fair that he has to keep telling people that they are not contributing as a whole to the services that they use just as much as other permanent residents in the county, and that it’s time to deal with it once and for all.
Currently, the eight summer villages throughout the county contribute financially to the Athabasca Regional Waste Management Services Commission and the Greater North Foundation. Most of the summer villages, except the Summer Village of Bondiss and the Summer Village of Mewatha, contribute to the Physician Recruitment Program; however, those are the only two villages that contribute to the County Fire Services. The summer villages of Sunset Beach, West Baptiste and Mewatha are the only ones that contribute to Athabasca Family and Community Support Services.
At the present time, none of the summer villages contribute to facilities like the Athabasca Regional Multiplex or Athabasca Landing Pool.
County Reeve David Yurdiga said the dynamics of the summer villages have changed over the years and more people are living there permanently and using the services all year round.
He noted that he agrees a meeting needs to be set up because the summer villages are part of the community and should be contributing financially to the facilities as well.
Yurdiga added that he knows some people are not informed by the summer village councils that they are not paying into the facilities, and they think they are contributing to county taxes just like everyone else. He said there is a real disconnect that needs to be addressed as well.
Councillor Larry Armfelt, whose division encompasses several summer villages, was at the Summer Villages meeting on Sept. 8 and noted that from this point on, Councillor Doris Splane will also be invited to attend the meetings, given that her division encompasses the other summer villages in the county.
Armfelt noted that if they could set up a council-to-council meeting, the villages might be able to better understand where the county is coming from.
Armfelt said his only concern is that he doesn’t think they’ll be able to meet until at least the spring of 2013, but the county needs to make every effort possible to set up a meeting.
Ultimately, Demko made a motion to direct administration to contact the summer villages and set up a council-to-council meeting at the earliest possible date.
