Representatives from the Mountain View County and Sundre councils have taken the next step towards drafting an Inter-Municipal Collaboration Initiative agreement.
"Both councils are looking for something that's sustainable, that will allow for continued growth of programs and services and facilities within the community," said Mayor Terry Leslie.
The new agreement will replace the current memorandum of agreement between the two municipalities, which expires in 2016.
Representatives from the councils recently agreed to and signed the discussion protocols as the two municipalities work towards a final agreement.
"Those discussion protocols are basically how we're going to work together through this whole process," said Leslie.
Both municipalities have entered the discussions with a spirit of openness, transparency and understanding to help guide negotiations. Facilitator Bill Sutherland will continue to help lead the discussions between the two parties as they pursue a draft agreement to take back to their respective councils, said a press release.
The facilitator will help the council representatives get to the "meat of the matters," said Sundre's mayor.
It's something the municipalities have not done before, but ever the optimist, Leslie said he has high hopes about the process.
The discussion protocols are an important first step in negotiations, setting the framework to guide talks between the parties during future meetings. With the protocols now in place, the negotiating teams from both municipalities have committed to continuing to meet to find common ground, said the press release.
"The discussions will be ongoing," said Leslie.
"There are a number of agreements that are in existence between our two municipalities. We'll be talking about each of them in the context of what they will look like in the future, not just for us but for future councils."
The last agreement spanned a 10-year time frame, he said. That was equivalent to more than three council terms, which used to be three years compared to the new four-year terms that are now in place.
"We're looking to see consistency from council to council in these agreements," said Leslie.
It can be quite challenging for councillors who are new to council to wrap their heads around something like the memorandum of agreement, he said.
"This is an attempt to make them more clear and easier to understand, and to put procedures in place to ensure there are more frequent discussions about the issues within those agreements. They need to be enduring yet flexible to take into account changing circumstances."
The goal of the new agreement is to provide guidelines for inter-municipal cooperation in areas of mutual interest, including infrastructure, facilities, services and future growth, as well as a framework for funding contributions. Both partners have openly shared information that will help facilitate a better understanding of the financial realities, growth pressures and infrastructure needs facing each municipality, said the press release.
So far, the process has been positive, said Leslie.
Any time there's an opportunity to sit down and discuss what's going on in your municipality and consider plans for the future, as well as listening to a neighbouring municipality's situation, "the more you realize you have a great deal in common," he said.
The councils have scheduled meetings throughout most of the upcoming year to discuss in detail the inter-municipal agreement.
"We're hoping it won't take that long," said Leslie, adding, "We don't want to short-circuit the time that's necessary to get into the details and clearly understand what we want in those agreements."
