Sundre's town council recently had a relatively lengthy discussion regarding whether it should support having a Municipal Area Partnership (MAP) committee, as well as having MAP as a standing item on council's regular agenda.
To open the floor to questions and comments, Coun. Chris Vardas put on the table a motion to support having the committee and having MAP included as a regular item on future agendas.
"I'm not opposed to passing it," said Coun. Paul Isaac, during the Feb. 8 meeting.
But the councillor had reservations about the MAP committee.
"I guess over the five years being here, we've never really heard a whole lot from that other than it's somewhat, I almost want to use the word dysfunctional, but I don't know if that's the correct word, so I won't use it, if that's OK," he said, eliciting some light laughter from council.
Isaac wondered how he could support the motion without first hearing more about MAP's direction, and said he wanted clarification on how the committee will help resolve regional issues moving forward.
Mayor Terry Leslie, who had recently attended a couple of the committee's meetings, told council the Municipal Area Partnership is not a decision-making body but rather a platform through which to share information.
"Councils should be the ones making decisions," he said.
Whenever Mountain View County's reeve and the region's mayors get together with their administrative officers, information is shared and taken back to each respective council to request a decision about different regional issues, said Leslie.
"We looked at the terms of reference a month ago and the general consensus was we should take the 10-page document and throw that away and start again," he said, later adding, "The idea was that we should determine a new set of terms of reference."
During another committee meeting held earlier the same day council met, representatives with the county agreed to take on the task of putting together a draft terms of reference that will eventually be presented to all the councils for their consideration, Leslie said.
Once the committee obtains the draft terms of reference, it will further debate the document and make any agreed upon changes. Each council will then decide whether they can accept those terms of reference as presented, he said.
"When the terms of reference are determined, then we can move ahead with some regional kinds of ideas that we're going to share and talk about and collaborate on."
There has largely been support from the county and surrounding municipalities. The Olds council did, however, have questions about setting certain priorities on some regional issues, and also expressed interest in meeting more frequently with other councils, he said.
"They had a concern that all councils should meet more regularly. They really want to get together and network with regional councils. They also wanted to amend the procedures bylaws in all of our councils to make sure that there is a standing item on our agendas (for MAP)."
Coun. Chris Vardas said the proposal sounded good and that the MAP committee is something the region needs.
"But I was pretty sure ó and correct me if I'm wrong ó the county didn't want nothing to do with MAP anymore. Didn't they just want it done because they said it was a waste of time? Because we used to have a MAP committee, and then the county said it wasn't productive enough."
The councillor was curious to know what had changed between then and now for the county to be in favour of having the committee.
"My sense is that ó I don't know what happened before ó and what I'm getting now from all of the councils is that there is a desire to look regionally at things that are going to help all of us grow together," said the mayor.
"By having a better understanding of what happens in Olds, Didsbury, Cremona, Carstairs and the county of Mountain View, we will have a better sense of how we can direct our own growth development and they will have a better sense of how we fit in as well."
Whatever happened in the past, there has since been changes in governments and much more of a focus placed on collaboration, said Leslie.
"I'm sensing an optimism from all councils to make an effort to look more regionally at issues that are important to us ó I'm encouraged by what I see now," he said.
Coun. Myron Thompson recalled having once sat as an alternate on the MAP committee in the past, and said he had attended several meetings. He said Vardas was right, and added the county was not the only council to doubt the overall usefulness of the committee.
"I often wondered on several times, ëWhy am I coming to this meeting ó why are my taxpayers paying a per diem for a meeting like this?'" he said, adding a municipality's representative once brought up an issue with the community's ice resurfacing machine.
The councillor expressed the opinion that those meetings were "jabber sessions" and that he "felt embarrassed almost to come back to report on what we did."
"If you want to set terms of reference that make sense, it would be such things as the river because it affects so many people."
The Highway 27 overpass on the QE II is another matter that affects the region, he said.
"Everybody would like to see a better overpass. How can we collaboratively work together to do that?"
That's what a committee like MAP should be about, he said, adding scheduled meetings are not necessary as there are other ways to share information.
"If you're going to do it, do it right."
Administrator Dave Dubauskas pointed out that MAP had gotten back together to address at the time an emerging issue with the Mountain View Regional Waste Management Commission, which has since been resolved.
"That was a good start to that group. There are some emerging issues that we should talk about," he said, adding he agreed with Thompson that a community's issues with something like an ice resurfacer might not be appropriate for a committee considering regional matters.
No one is interested in needlessly attending any more meetings, said Leslie. But it's important "to bring regional issues that affect our municipalities to the forefront so that we can actually see action."
A municipality's request to the provincial or federal governments carries far more weight if it is supported in writing by neighbouring communities, he said.
"This is like anything else. You give it a try, and you see if down the road it is accomplishing the goals that you would expect."
Within six months or so, it should be clear whether MAP is working out, he said.
"I believe, along with all of the other mayors and the reeve currently, that this is something that is going to be regionally beneficial for us."
The MAP committee will be reviewed every year to determine whether members are getting good value for their time and money spent, the mayor said.
As some members of council still had reservations about supporting MAP without a final terms of reference, Dubauskas said council would still have a chance for second thoughts once the document is outlined.
The mayor also reminded council the MAP committee's old terms of reference were discarded to draft them anew.
Council carried the motion on the table after discussing the matter for about 40 minutes.
