DIDSBURY - The Town of Didsbury has sent Mountain View County an official notice requesting the renegotiation of the municipalities’ joint Intermunicipal Collaboration Framework (ICF) master agreement, which is used to guide such things as land use planning and growth management affecting both parties.
During the recent council meeting, council passed a motion to have a letter sent to the county requesting the renegotiation. The seven year agreement was originally signed in 2017.
In a follow-up Albertan interview, mayor Rhonda Hunter said the request for renegotiation follows rules set out in the agreement itself.
“Right now there is a window from October 15 to January 15 when we can provide a notice to renegotiate the agreement,” said Hunter. “It is part of that agreement that there is opportunity to renegotiate. The town has elected to take that option.”
Asked what issue or issues have prompted the town to seek the renegotiation, she replied, “Right now the letter (seeking renegotiation) is with the county. We are going to present our issues and any discussion we need to have with the county we will present it to them first. Right now it is only fair that we present it to them first.”
The purpose of the agreement and the sub-agreements that flow from it is to “better serve and provide quality of life to the community that is the Town of Didsbury and Mountain View County by ensuring that growth management, land use planning, programs and services are effectively, efficiently and economically delivered and are reasonably available to them.”
It is also a “foundational agreement from which a number of sub-sub-agreements flow (and) expresses the intent, common elements and broad parameters applicable to the sub-agreements.”
Under the agreement the signatories may request renegotiation of the agreement within a 90 day period that begins two years prior to the expiry of the initial seven year term.
Regarding access to municipal facilities, programs and services, the agreement states that to contribute to the “quality of life of their respective residents, the signatory municipalities want to ensure access to each other’s facilities, programs and services. The signatories therefore agree to provide access to municipal facilities, program and services to each other’s residents in a manner that does not differentiate between them.”
The agreement also calls for the signatories to “create a joint approach to capital planing for those capital assets that deliver mutual benefit (and) capital fund decisions will be informed by joint capital planning contemplated in Article 14.1 with the funding share and method of funding being determined on a case-by-case basis.”
The motion to send the letter to the county followed an in-camera session at the recent council meeting, held in person and on YouTube.
