Mountain View County council is looking toward a provincial grant to fund negotiations with towns inside its borders as they seek a new deal to share the costs of services.
The grant is from the Alberta Community Partnership — a $48.8-million program aimed at funding regional projects.
In this case, the money would go toward hammering out a new memorandum of agreement between the county and towns within its borders.
The county would make the formal application and spend the money in partnership with the towns.
A maximum of $350,000 can be awarded but county reeve Bruce Beattie said they don't expect to use the full amount, even if they are applying for it.
It's a fairly new program so it's the first time we've taken advantage or applied for it,” Beattie said. “It's a good program and we're hopeful that we'll be successful in obtaining the grant because we think it's a good example of what this type of funding should be used for.”
The Town of Olds voted to support the county's bid at its Nov. 10 council meeting but wanted further details on where the money would be going.
“It's primarily for the cost associated with the facilitator, Bill Sutherland and any associated meetings, the costs that might come as a result of the process,” he said. “We expect the process to go on for some time.”
All the municipalities have agreed to support the county's application, he added.
If the grant is denied or not awarded in full, money for negotiations would be drawn from a Municipal Area Partnership (MAP) account, which has about $80,000 in it, according to Olds chief administrative officer Norm McInnis.
The MAP is an organization made up of municipalities and the county. Each municipality contributes to the fund on a per capita basis toward regional projects and if called upon to pay for MOA talks, a committee must approve the expense, Beattie said.
