Mayors Nolan Crouse and Tom Flynn say their governments should buddy-up for the betterment of both communities.
Crouse and Flynn released a joint statement this week committing to regular mayor-to-mayor meetings to develop relationships between St. Albert and Sturgeon County.
Relations between the two communities have been frosty for years due to disputes over development along their shared borders.
Crouse said he and Flynn had met several times in recent weeks and committed to working together. “We’re trying to set the tone.”
Both would encourage their staff and fellow councillors to meet their counterparts and get to know them better.
This is a chance for both councils to develop a much better relationship, Flynn said.
“We have so many things we share with the City of St. Albert,” he said, and many items of interest they could work on together. “It doesn’t mean we’ll always agree, but we’re going to get around the (same) table.”
Crouse said this sort of co-operation did not occur when Don Rigney was the county’s mayor because the two of them disagreed on almost every issue. “We didn’t agree on housing. We didn’t agree on Servus Place. We didn’t agree on the MDP,” he said. “When you fundamentally disagree (with each other), you eventually end up not meeting.”
Both governments had also held onto old grievances from past disputes, Flynn said. It’s time to learn from those mistakes and get away from protecting one’s own turf, he said. “We have to have a strong vision for what the region is going to look like.”
As announced earlier this year, both councils would meet this February for a joint strategy session with a facilitator.
Flynn and Crouse also committed to discuss the county’s municipal development plan (MDP) and Villeneuve area structure plan – documents St. Albert strongly opposed in the past because they proposed to add thousands of residents to its borders.
Crouse said Flynn personally delivered the latest draft of the county’s MDP to his office this week, and that St. Albert council would discuss it on Dec. 2. He had yet to read the draft as of Thursday, but said that he would likely attend the plan’s public hearing later this month to discuss it.
The county hopes to clarify its MDP goals with St. Albert and find some common ground on it, Flynn said. “It may unfold into some revenue sharing,” he said, adding that he meant cost-sharing on a joint project rather than dividing up revenue from the upcoming North West upgrader.
The Villeneuve plan is still in the works, Flynn said, but will likely return with a smaller proposed build-out (the original proposed a community of 6,000). “There’s a big asset there that we can make into something that will attract extra business.”
Crouse was confident that this was a fresh start for relations between the city and the county. “I honestly think you’re going to see four solid productive years between the two communities.”
