Finding solutions to deliver services like solid waste and stormwater at a regional level nearly derailed after municipal leaders voiced concerns about how it will all roll out.
Last year, the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board (EMRB) appointed a task force to look at how to tackle regional services following a provincial mandate for municipalities to work together. The task force highlighted three main areas where the region could work together: stormwater, emergency management (excluding fire services) and solid waste.
While the board ultimately allowed for more research so a framework could be developed, task force members, most notably Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson, had to field questions on the merits of the region working together.
“All we’re asking is for an opportunity to flesh out the four things here and bring that back to you,” Iveson said during the EMRB meeting on June 13. “Then, if you decide you don’t want to go any further, then we can kill them them but don’t do it right now. I think the ambiguity around what would happen with storm, what would happen with fire, that ambiguity is holding up our discussion right now. If you don’t like the scope when we come back then there’ll be many opportunities to keep and shorten this list.”
St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron said following the meeting it would have been a real mistake to not have these discussions take place. She stressed that no decisions have been made yet as the EMRB only gave the task force a bit more time.
She mentioned she was concerned about being asked to downgrade the city’s services, a feeling also shared by Strathcona County which offers a high-level transit system.
“I think their bus schedules in the local area run every 15 minutes whereas St. Albert’s is every half an hour so (Strathcona) doesn’t want to sacrifice that,” she said. “So let’s say the baseline is every 30 minutes for buses but if Strathcona wants to pay a little bit extra to keep their service in their region, we can work that into a model. We just have to find the right baseline to make sure little communities aren’t stretched too far. We don’t want to burden them.”
Known as the Metropolitan Region Servicing Plan, the idea is for the municipalities around Edmonton to work together to find efficiencies and improve services. One example given by Iveson was around a new fire hazard vehicle, which Edmonton is looking to purchase. Iveson said it wouldn’t make sense for a community like Leduc to purchase their own when they could have access to one that’s only a few kilometres away.
Parkland County Mayor Rod Shaigec wanted to know how the EMRB planned to deal with agreements at the sub-regional level.
“How does Parkland County partner with Fort Saskatchewan or the City of Leduc?” he said. “Where’s the benefit? What about the agreements that we have with other municipalities like Brazeau County, Yellowhead County ... the five summer villages around Wabamun Lake? Is the region going to support and provide services to those municipalities that we have other agreements with?”
Iveson said in most instances, the region can move forward without having to include Edmonton but there will be times when it makes more sense to bring in the larger urban centre.
He acknowledged there are many questions about the scope of work that needs to be done and what will be prioritized but he said those questions should be brought back to the task force and fleshed out.
