WESTLOCK – Westlock County has lent its support to the Town of Westlock who are seeking funding via the Alberta Community Partnership program to craft a land-use servicing plan for the land running east and west along Highway 18.
At their Oct. 25 regular meeting, councillors voted 7-0 to provide a letter of support to mayor Ralph Leriger that’s been signed by reeve Chistine Wiese which, in part, reads that council, “ … recognizes the benefits of such an application for regional growth and attracting investment to the region. We are happy to provide this letter of support and wish you the best of luck in your application.”
County CAO Tony Kulbisky said he was told by town CAO Simone Wiley that the town’s engineering firm suggested applying for a community partnership grant to “offset some of the costs of doing a feasibility study” on Highway 18 that will identify requirements and options for utility servicing, determine appropriate land uses and intensity, and identify future impact on municipal operations and maintenance. In a follow-up interview Nov. 3, Wiley said they don’t know how much they’ll be applying for as they had been waiting for word back from the county.
Previously, the county, town and Village of Clyde received $200,000 as part of the 2020/21 Alberta Community Partnership program to develop an emergency services master plan.
“I think it’s great and shows that we are working with (our neighbours) and trying to collaborate,” said Wiese, following a motion from Coun. Stuart Fox-Robinson to send the letter of support.
Kulbisky’s briefing goes on to note that the primary focus will be on “obtaining and analyzing land-condition assessment data” which “will involve identification of deficiencies and plans to address those deficiencies, identification of requirements to service potential development, and the updating of 10-year capital plans.”
Although the county is providing a letter of support, they won’t be providing any dollars with Kulbisky saying “it’s helping our neighbour acquire some provincial funding.”
Wiley confirmed they’ll be seeking dollars via “Intermunicipal Collaboration” (IC) which sees the province provide funding to partnerships of two or more municipalities to “develop regional plans, service delivery frameworks and regional service delivery efficiencies.” The deadline for 2022-23 IC applications is Dec. 16.
“The engineering firm feels that if there is a letter of support from the neigbouring municipality that gives them a better shot at getting some funding to take a look at a feasibility study,” said Kulbisky. “And I think indirectly it can help the county as well to learn what the capacity is of the Town of Westlock in terms of our future growth plans.”
Kulbisky’s briefing goes on to note that information generated from the study “is critical to provide the partners a big-picture approach for the planning and collaborative delivery of regional economic development and growth” as the integrated master plan will guide “informed decisions on required local and joint infrastructure improvements and upgrades.”
Ultimately, the land-use servicing plan will inform and guide future land development strategies to ensure that the region is “positioned to address future operational and infrastructure requirements.”
