Barrhead County Council decided to make a motion during their regular council meeting on Friday, Nov. 21, to send a letter to the Minister of Alberta Municipal Affairs to voice their concerns regarding the amalgamation initiated by the Town of Barrhead.
“The Town did not have any discussions with the County prior to the Town serving the formal Amalgamation Notice,” the letter said. “Aside from some casual comments individual Town Council members and a reference in the Town’s Strategic Plan, the County had no idea that the Town was contemplating amalgamation.”
Barrhead County Reeve Bill Lee said the county received no notice prior to the town’s decision to move forward in the amalgamation process.
“We received no prior warning, or update, or information, or discussions prior to that,” Lee said.
It was during an Association’s Municipal Districts and County meeting that Lee brought to light the flaws the county sees in the amalgamation process to other municipalities North of Edmonton.
“There is a flaw in the MGA (Municipal Government Act) that allows one municipality to force the other one to the table,” he said. “The letter is in that regard, and the last sentence in that whole letter is the big one.”
The letter closes stating that the county awaits the reply of Municipal Affairs prior to moving forward with the proposed amalgamation, hoping that would generate the need to reply.
Lee said that the steps missed involved one of the very first steps purposed when beginning the process of amalgamation, with discussion.
“We felt that is not very fair,” Lee said.
The point of the discussion prior to moving forward in the process of amalgamation is to review the pros and cons, and what both councils believe is better for both municipalities.
The Government of Alberta Municipal Affairs website has a section dedicated to amalgamation.
“In most cases, representatives from the amalgamating municipalities have discussed the idea to ensure that the parties are interested before the first steps in this legal process occur,” it states.
“It doesn’t say you have to, it is a strong suggestion. This is the process you go through before you start amalgamation,” he said, adding that the process costs taxpayers, not just the councils.
“This is going to take a lot of money,” Lee said.
The county is waiting a reply from Municipal Affairs in regards to the letter, whether it shows support for the county or not, and makes several requests.
“If the Department of Municipal Affairs reject the formal Amalgamation Notice from the Town of Barrhead, the Town of Barrhead be instructed to cease all public communications regarding amalgamation, including via social media, and the Town of Barrhead be encouraged to study the various options which are available, after which the Town and County can engage in informal discussions to review and expand on various options, which could include amalgamation,” the letter said.
Since proposing amalgamation the town has created a Facebook page which was created for open discussion between the communities in the town and the county, and is monitored by an unbiased source.
The page has seen both sides so far, and includes posts about the process, and what is means for municipalities to amalgamate.
Lee said that he hopes to see change in the future in regards to the process of amalgamation.
“For one thing, I hope that the act does change, so that other municipalities don’t get into this thing,” Lee said. “I think that if amalgamation forms a partnership on council, I think we need to form a partnership before we get there.”
