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County not paying its fair share, says Turner

Sturgeon County’s $500,000 contribution to Morinville’s rec-centre is “a blow to ratepayers throughout the region” that reinforces the fact that it’s not paying its fair share for recreation, said Mayor Barry Turner.
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CASH COMPLAINTS — Morinville Mayor Barry Turner has criticized Sturgeon County’s decision to chip in just $500,000 to the town's new rec-centre, a mock-up of which is shown here. Turner said the county was not paying its fair share for use of the future facility.

Sturgeon County’s $500,000 contribution to Morinville’s rec-centre is “a blow to ratepayers throughout the region” that reinforces the fact that it’s not paying its fair share for recreation, said Mayor Barry Turner.

Sturgeon County council voted on Aug. 28 to chip in $500,000 to Morinville’s new rec-centre, which is now under construction on county land just east of the town.

The decision came as a blow to town council, as it had been lobbying the county for cash for years and had asked for $4 million.

County Mayor Alanna Hnatiw and community services manager Susan Berry spoke to Morinville council about that decision later that day.

As she told county council, Berry said the county felt left out of the town’s decision process when it came to the arena. Residents were concerned that investment in the rec-centre would mean less money for other facilities, and that it would not benefit the county as a whole.

Hnatiw said that the county’s recent process of talking to its residents about contributing to the rec-centre “should have happened three years ago.”

“This is in my mind not the end of the conversation,” she said.

“I’m hoping we can be good neighbours and supportive in other ways.”

In council, Mayor Barry Turner thanked Hnatiw for the county’s contribution, which he noted was the biggest one yet for the rec-centre, but noted that it represented some 1.6 per cent of the cost of a project the town projected up to 40 per cent of county residents would use.

“This is a significantly lower contribution in terms of the expected proportion of use,” he said, and not in keeping with the principle of equal pay for equal use.

In a press release sent the next day, Turner said that the county’s decision was “a blow to ratepayers throughout the region” who would have benefited from a joint, sustainable approach to recreation funding.

“Our residents expect and deserve meaningful municipal collaboration, and we did not see that yesterday.”

Not their fair share, says Turner

In an interview, Turner said that the town had repeatedly reached out to the county to get them involved in planning the rec-centre, and had offered strategies for joint ownership and/or operation of it (such as through a legal structure known as a Part 9 company). The county never offered the cash that would justify such involvement, though, and instead repeatedly complained that it didn’t feel involved.

“The challenge is, how do you engage with someone who doesn’t want to engage with you?” he said.

Turner said county officials kept putting off the discussion and throwing up roadblocks when it came to putting down cash for the rec-centre. Those delays ran up against the town’s hard deadline to replace the crumbling Ray McDonald Sports Centre, forcing the town to go it alone on many key decisions.

“Zero dollars buys you zero input,” Turner said.

“If there’s going to be meaningful collaboration, there also has to be meaningful contribution.”

Although he acknowledged that none of the county’s other municipalities stepped up when the town asked for partners for the rec-centre several years ago, Turner said that this centre was still of regional importance, as Sturgeon was the only Edmonton-area county without a regional recreation centre.

Turner said the county’s decision set the stage for some “challenging discussions” when it comes to the upcoming intermunicipal co-operation framework deal between the county and Morinville, as it went against the principle of fairness embodied in those agreements.

“If we continue to see inequitable and disproportionate funding in services accessed by rural residents, Morinville will have to examine all the options available to it,” he said, including binding arbitration.

Turner said that the town could still afford to build the rec-centre without sponsorship dollars, and that it was on schedule to open next May.


Kevin Ma

About the Author: Kevin Ma

Kevin Ma joined the St. Albert Gazette in 2006. He writes about Sturgeon County, education, the environment, agriculture, science and aboriginal affairs. He also contributes features, photographs and video.
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