The updated Municipal Government Act (MGA) should help improve cooperation among municipalities in the region, while also creating some new challenges, says Mountain View County councillor Al Kemmere.
The councillor for Division 7 is also president of the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMDC).
The association has been working with the government and other stakeholders on updating the MGA - the legislation that governs the operation of local rural and urban governments - for the past several years.
Proclamation of the legislation's final updated provisions have now taken place.
"What we've come up with is a solution to encourage cooperation throughout the province," Kemmere said.
"The hard work of the last five years by Municipal Affairs, AAMDC, the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association and many other committed associations and industries has resulted in legislation that focuses on collaboration.
"We came to the table with goodwill and we will move forward with those same intentions. However, the work doesn't end here. As this legislation rolls out, AAMDC will continue to monitor the impact and advocate that the act continues to meet the changing needs of rural Alberta."
Changes in the legislation include regional planning through growth management boards and inter-municipal collaboration frameworks, allowing parental leave for municipal councillors, having the provincial ombudsman providing oversight for municipalities and requiring training to be offered to municipal councillors.
Provisions of the updated legislation will be coming into effect in phases, some immediately and some in the spring of 2018.
The updated legislation creates some obstacles for rural municipalities, said Kemmere.
"There are challenges that we have from a rural municipality point of view," he said. "We have to do numerous inter-municipal collaboration frameworks and the timeline of two years is not going to be near enough, I think.
"We have to try to move forward and see what we can get done in two years. The challenge that we have from a rural municipality point of view is, and I'll use Mountain View County as an example, the county has to come up with 10 agreements; we have five towns and the other counties that touch us.
"And yet the towns only have to do one (agreement), and that is with the county. With that many agreements to lay out and complete, two years isn't very long."
Although the current review is wrapping up, Kemmere says future reviews should be ongoing.
"We are never going to be done with this," he said. "There are still amendments from the spring that have not gone through the regulation stage and there are items that are going to come up.
"We've asked for a more regular reviews. Keep it as an organic document and try to keep up with the technology. Don't wait 20 years before you review it again. Try to keep it more consistent so it doesn't get old."
The AAMDC represents 69 rural municipalities, including Mountain View County.
The Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) represents urban municipalities across the province, including towns and villages in the Central Alberta region.
"Albertans expect provincial and municipal governments to work together to achieve the best possible outcomes for communities," AUMA president Lisa Holmes said in a media release.
"I am particularly proud of how AUMA and AAMDC came together to advocate for our members and I believe this relationship speaks to the spirit of inter-municipal collaboration contained within the new MGA."
Minister of Municipal Affairs Shaye Anderson said the AAMDC, the AUMA and other stakeholders made key contributions to the updated legislation.
"This updated piece of legislation provides municipalities the tools and resources they need to build strong communities and make lives better for Albertans," Anderson said in the media release.
"What we've come up with is a solution to encourage cooperation throughout the province."Al KemmereAAMDC president
