The Town of Sundre council was not keen to sign an interim agreement with Mountain View County council, citing among other reasons concerns regarding a complete lack of consultation in the process.
The interim agreement tabled by county officials would replace the existing memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the two municipalities for a period of two years or until such a time that the updated MOA is finalized. The ongoing provincial government's review of the Municipal Government Act has not helped accelerate that process, as municipal officials still do not fully know what to expect, let alone plan around.
In the background information prepared for Sundre's council, administrative staff stated that an interim agreement from Mountain View County was received in September. The existing agreement ends on Dec. 31. The county's proposed interim agreement has a term of two years, starting on Jan. 1, 2017 and ending on Dec. 31, 2018 — unless earlier terminated by mutual agreement of both the Town of Sundre and Mountain View County.
The interim agreement was reviewed and discussed on Sept. 26 by Sundre's council during a workshop. At that time, council agreed to prepare for county officials a letter outlining some questions and concerns with regards to the interim agreement, including the reasoning behind the creation of the document as opposed to simply extending the termination date on the existing agreement.
Among the questions outlined in the letter is, “Why has a new interim agreement been created that is not in line with the existing MOA? And why was this done without any consultation with the Town of Sundre?”
The letter addressed to county officials was approved during the Sundre council's Oct. 3 meeting.
