Recreation agreement mediation process to begin

Barrhead town councillors are willing to move ahead with the mediation process with their county counterparts in an effort to come up with a recreation agreement, despite not knowing whether amalgamation is still on the table.

That was the consensus of town council after hearing from Michael Scheidl, Alberta Municipal Affairs manager of municipal dispute resolution, and Sara Ahlstrom, Municipal Affairs dispute resolution during their regular meeting on Tuesday, May 10.

The pair visited chambers with two goals. The first to clarify and answer any questions councillors might have about the letter both town and county received from Danielle Larivee, minister of Muncipal Affairs. The other was to set the framework so that the two can come up with a long-term recreation agreement.

Mayor Gerry St. Pierre said while council welcomed the province’s help, they needed clarification about whether or not amalgamation is still an option.

In the letter dated April 26, Larivee states that after reviewing the amalgamation study and hearing from both the town and county she isn’t prepared to recommend amalgamation at this time, but instead is giving the town and county six months to come to a joint recreation agreement. If no agreement is reached by that time Larivee wrote that she is prepared to use the powers granted to her under section 570(c) of the Municipal Government Act (MGA) to ‘make a decision to settle an intermunicipal dispute.’

“We are somewhat confused, and the county has expressed similar concern, about what ‘not at this time’ means,” St. Pierre said, adding they also wanted clarification about the letter’s second paragraph. County council has also written a letter to Larivee asking her to clarify if amalgamation is off the table.

In the pargraph Larivee states: “While I recognize amalgamation may not be the solution, I too strongly encourage you to pursue such opportunities.”

St. Pierre said he believes the sentence was worded incorrectly and the word ‘not’ was not meant to be included.

“That makes much more sense and apparently that was the intent,” he said, adding if this is correct, amalgamation is still an option.

Scheidl agreed saying it is their understanding, his and Ahlstrom’s, that amalgamation remains an option, but that Larivee and Muncipal Affairs considers the current amalgamation file closed and that if either party wanted to readdress the process they would have to start from the beginning and reapply.

St. Pierre asked Scheidl where in the letter it said the amalgamation file was closed.

“She (Larivee) said she isn’t prepared to recommend amalgamation at this time, but it does not say amalgamation is off the table,” he said, adding it would depend on how the recreation agreement negotiations progressed.

Scheidl agreed, saying that if through the negotiation and mediation process both the town and county decided to amalgamate then it would be an option.

“I know of some other municipalities who, while negotiating other service agreements, got to the point where they both came to the conclusion that (amalgamation) seemed to make sense,” he said.

Coun. Ty Assaf agreed with St. Pierre saying he interprets the letter as saying amalgamation is an option, adding if that is the case, he doesn’t understand why they would have to resubmit their application.

Coun. Don Smith echoed both St. Pierre and Assaf’s sentiments, adding when the town first asked Municipal Affairs to start the amalgamation process in September 2014, it wasn’t to have the minister come in and rule for or against amalgamation.

“We wanted to get some clarification and maybe some guidance on how to move forward with the process,” he said, adding there were still a number of steps to be taken before a decision about amalgamation could be made. “Before we decided to do anything we were going to consult with the residents of both municipalities and at the end of all that we would see if there was a feeling if they would like to amalgamate the two communities. I was always under the impression that amalgamation was still on the table for us.”

St. Pierre agreed, adding town council would be hard pressed to give up on amalgamation, adding it is only because the town started the process that any progress has been made towards making a recreation agreement.

“Until now, for the last 24 years the negotiation has strictly been one sided. We request a certain amount of funding for recreation, as one example, and the county would counter saying this is what we are going to give you, take it or leave it,” he said, adding the town is willing to negotiate what they feel is a reasonable recreation agreement, but if one isn’t reached council feels amalgamation is the only option.

Martin Taylor, Barrhead’s chief administrative officer, suggested council ask minister Larivee for clarification on the issue. Council agreed, although Coun. Ryan Warehime said the county has already asked the minister for clarification on the issue and whenever the minister’s reply is received, the town would get a copy.

Scheidl then moved the discussion to the structure of the process and the town and county’s first recreation agreement meeting on Monday, May 16.

Assaf suggested it might be better to wait until both councils received clarification on the amalgamation process, pointing to the County of Barrhead reeve Bill Lee’s letter to minister Larivee.

In the letter Lee states, ‘Negotiations on a recreation agreement would be difficult if amalgamation remains to be an option.’

“So am I wrong, if it (amalgamation) is not concluded the county won’t sit down and communicate?” he asked, adding perhaps they could get an answer from the minister before Monday’s meeting.

Councillors Warehime and Roy Ulmer also expressed their reservations about starting the negotiation process without clarification from Larivee.

Scheidl said due to the ongoing fire situation in Fort McMurray, which Municipal Affairs, is the lead ministry, it would be unlikely that the town or county would receive a reply in the immediate future, adding he believed the process could successfully start without the minister’s clarification.

“The county and town want to get together and talk about recreation, which is a good sign,” he said. “From our experience, 90 per cent of the cases when two parties agree to get into a room with a mediator, we are able to come out with an agreement that will work for the both of you.”