By Marianne Cole
COUNTY/CAROLINE AMALGAMATION
At the May 23, 2023 Council meeting, Ian McCormack from Strategic Steps Inc. presented a “What We Have Heard Report”. Noted highlights/comments from the report are: (Note: The quotations are taken directly from the report.)
General
· “Responses from County residents differ from those of Village residents. This can be seen particularly in the understanding of benefit and detriment of any potential amalgamation.”
· “There may also be a difference in opinion between those County residents who live close to Caroline and for whom Caroline is a gathering place vs. those who have no interaction in Caroline.”
· “Most participants who identified as being from Caroline believe an amalgamation to be an important step to growth and sustainability.
· “Some County residents have concerns about being financially “strapped” by taking on Caroline.
· “Adding 500 people to 12,500 people would mean that the current Village would likely not have a dedicated County Council member. The current village population may be spread between two Divisions or it may be contained with a single Division.”
Below are Pro’s and Con’s expressed either at the public engagement meetings or in the survey.
Pro’s
· “Helping the Village survive with the use of County staff and equipment.”
· “Improved levels of service, more qualified staff, better functioning council, commercial, industrial and residential growth, more community services, programs and better taxation rates.”
· “The amalgamation could make Caroline an amazing, community focussed and quaint hamlet.”
Con’s
· “County taxes will have to rise to pay for the infrastructure to upgrade Caroline.”
· “Amalgamation is off the table for me. Get the Village to dissolve and the County take them over with provincial support.”
· “Caroline will lose all autonomy and will be solely at the mercy of the County and the government. They will no longer have any true say in what the Village needs or can do.”
· “County often does not realize the problems/concerns unique to Village.”
· “First of all, the Village is urban and the County is rural. It is important to maintain this separation…You cannot mix oil with water. Rural is rural and urban is urban.”
· “County residents taking on a larger tax bill to bail out the terrible financial burden the Village has gotten itself into.”
· “Higher taxes.” (This was mentioned several times.)
· “Taxes will increase without the benefit to County residents. We do not need urban/rural amalgamation.”
General Concerns
· “Have not seen enough info to have any truly informed or objective input.”
· “I would like to see what a proposed budget would look like and also a 5 year project/infrastructure plan prior to an amalgamation vote.”
· “This survey really does not recognize the concerns that would be of value to rural residents. Too highly focussed on urban (Caroline) residents, and business, yet County residents could be seriously affect as the County dollars are spent for other people’s benefit.”
· “I feel the consultant attempted to present a rosy picture of amalgamation rather than the nuts and bolts or a true transparent picture of realities that include actual numbers that include how much the Clearwater County already subsidizes the Village.”
Next Steps
· “The next step for both municipal Councils is to determine whether to proceed one more step down the amalgamation path. The decision point in the Municipal Government Act is that both councils would need to pass a resolution in accordance with the MGA.”
· “That being said, if one Council votes in favor of entering direct negotiations and the other one does not the process may still proceed.” (It would be likely that the province would step in at this point.)
· “If both Councils choose to enter direct negotiations, the process will proceed.”
· “If neither Council chooses to enter direct negotiations, the process would stop.”
· “The negotiation process itself, as outlined in Section 104, does not commit either Council to amalgamating.”
Ultimately, “The formal decision to negotiate is the next step of the process. If the Councils decide to move into negotiating, it will be important that on a regular basis, clear, concise communication and updates to citizens remains a priority, both for reasons of transparency and as a way to combat rumour and misinformation.”
We will try to keep you informed about when Council will be considering a decision on these negotiations as well as any further public engagement meetings.
HAVE A GREAT SUMMER EVERYONE. WE WILL SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER
