Beaverlodge and the County of Grande Prairie are putting off their planned agreement to manage future development in their border areas.
During its regular meeting last week, county council voted to support the town’s request to discontinue Intermunicipal Development Plan (IDP) discussions and to inform Municipal Affairs of this decision.
“We fully intend on re-engaging this IDP process,” said mayor Gary Rycroft.
“We don’t have the resources and manpower to do it all at this time, and we need to get some things off our plate first.”
Section 631 of the Municipal Government Act (MGA) defines an IDP as addressing land use in areas between municipalities and proposals for development and transportation programs there.
Moreover, IDPs are concerned with intermunicipal programs for economic development and environmental matters.
In November 2019 the UCP government introduced the Red Tape Reduction Implementation Act, removing the requirement that neighbouring municipalities develop an IDP.
This enabled the town to discontinue discussions, Rycroft said.
He said an IDP requires a great amount of administration’s time to complete, and there are other pressing issues to occupy town staff.
These include the municipal budget, conclusion of the Intermunicipal Collaboration Framework with the county and advocating for the Beaverlodge Hospital, as well as day-to-day administration, Rycroft said.
He said the town having a small staff was a factor in the request. (The town made the request to the county Feb. 18, before Karen Gariepy, Beaverlodge chief administrative officer, went on leave).
Rycroft said he views the IDP as a valuable resource for the municipalities and there is potential for development between the town and county.
Work on the agreement may resume in a year, he said.
What parts of the border areas that may be developed would be decided by industry, he added.
So far, the town has hired contractor John Simpson to perform preliminary work on the IDP, said Tina Letendre, acting chief administrative officer.
The consultation includes identifying potential needs and where development may occur, Rycroft said.
Letendre said Simpson is being paid as needed, with no set dollar amount for the contract.
However, Rycroft said the time and money spent so far won’t go to waste because the town intends to revisit the IDP.
Under the MGA, municipalities must still complete an Intermunicipal Collaboration Framework (ICF) by April 1.
ICFs are broadly concerned with services and infrastructure, identifying which services are best provided on a municipal or intermunicipal basis, according to section 708.29 of the MGA.
Rycroft said an announcement on the ICF between Beaverlodge and the county can be expected “within the next month.”
Conversations between the town and county over the ICF are going well, though he said he can’t talk about the details. The negotiations between councils have occurred in meetings closed to the public.
The County of Grande Prairie has already completed three ICFs in 2019, with Saddle Hills County, the Municipal District of Greenview and Birch Hills County.
Brad Quarin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Town & Country News
