Following a joint services committee meeting, the town, county and Village of Clyde have approved the next step in the potential amalgamation of the three municipalities.
On Sept. 26, the three municipalities agreed to apply for the province’s Regional Collaboration Program grant.
If successful, the municipalities would receive about $250,000 towards a study to “examine possible governance options and strategic approaches to best provide an increased effective and efficient government to the region’s citizens,” according to a press release announcing the agreement.
The agreement comes after the Sept. 23 town council and Sept. 24 county council meetings, where councillors heard from members of the amalgamation committee. At the end of their respective presentations, both town and county councillors voted to go ahead with applying for the grant, and installing the county as the managing partner.
During the town presentation, committee member Ken Mead told councillors very few businesses and visitors to the area notice the political boundaries.
He said moving forward with amalgamation would eliminate competition between the town and county, improving the overall economic picture.
Wayne Forbes, who joined Mead during the presentation, talked about how amalgamation would streamline many municipal processes, like land-use planning, as well as broaden the overall tax base to fund various services offered.
That said, Forbes admitted there are still a number of questions that remain to be answered.
Mayor Bruce Lennon said he feels going through with the study is the best way to determine whether amalgamation would work for Westlock.
“It will give everyone some more information as to ‘is amalgamation possible?’” he said. “If it is, how would it look and what are some of our other options other than amalgamation?”
He added amalgamation sounds easy in principle, but there are a lot of “twists and turns” that need to be dealt with before anything is finalized.
During the county presentation, Forbes spoke about how a single Westlock municipality would be more financially efficient.
He added it would enable long-term planning to be done better, without competing interests and goals.
On the topic of financial savings that could be achieved through amalgamation, county Coun. Bert Seatter told the committee members to remember the savings won’t be as drastic as many people think. Seatter said that nearly the same number of employees will be needed to provide services across an expanse of land that won’t change if all three municipalities become one.
Reeve Charles Navratil said there was nothing he heard during the presentation that was new to him.
He also echoed Lennon’s remarks, noting before any decisions are made about whether or not to merge the municipalities, the study needs to run its course.
“The study really needs to be done and we really need to know the advantages and disadvantages and we’ve got to get our people educated,” Navratil said. “There’s a lot of work that needs to be done. It’s not going to happen overnight, I’ll guarantee you that.”
