ANNEXATION PLAN
White City Mayor Bruce Evans refers to a map to make a point at the launch of a proposal to form one integrated community with neighboring sub-divisions.
The reeve of the RM of Edenwold objects to the process White City has initiated to annex Emerald Park and neighbouring residential and commercial subdivisions to create one urban municipality.
“We strongly object,” said Mitchell Huber, reeve of the RM. “There are many, many things that are unanswered.”
The formal process began Tuesday with an official letter of request for annexation from White City’s mayor Bruce Evans to Huber.
The boundary alteration would require annexation of Emerald Park, adjacent commercial and industrial lands, the residential subdivisions of Escott/Deneve, Park Meadows Estates, Meadow Ridge Estates and other rural land from the RM.
Nearly 6,000 people live in White City, the subdivision of Emerald Park and surrounding residential or commercial developments in the RM, Evans told reporters Wednesday.
He noted a growth study commissioned by White City indicates the population will grow to more than 22,000 residents in 25 years. Approximately 2,469 acres will be required to meet the community ’s growth needs.
“The current unusual and confining geographic model and governance model surrounding the town and the lack of integration concerning taxation, land development and the provision of school, recreation and other municipal services hampers our efforts,” Evans said.
He said the disparate governance challenges service delivery, erodes long-term planning and doesn’t provide a single representative voice to guide decision making.
“We’re friends and neighbours divided only by two systems of governance,” Evans said. “We think it’s time to unite as one municipal government.”
When asked if Emerald Park residents might see the annexation as a takeover, Evans replied: “Everybody who lives in this community considers it to be one community. Our kids go to the same school, we buy our groceries at the same grocery store that we have. The difference is that we are under two municipal jurisdictions.”
The reeve maintains White City has come to the table with one proposal, but others should be considered.
“One of the ideas we’ve got is a municipal district concept,” Huber said. “If you look more to the north, the town of Pilot Butte isn’t too far away. We’ve got a similar situation happening with them.”
A municipal district would better serve ratepayers, said Jana Jedlic, senior municipal planner with the RM of Edenwold.
“This is a municipality that has dealt with commercial and industrial development over the years,” she said. “All of the amenities that are located in Emerald Park and the RM of Edenwold have led to the growth that has occurred in White City. The town has actually grown on the back of Edenwold.”
Huber said the RM will take a closer look at White City’s proposal, but, “At the end of the day, we’re going to do our best to be supportive to our business community and to our residents.”
About 1,800 surveys were handdelivered to the affected residents, with a 25-per-cent response rate. Of those who completed the survey six weeks ago, 71 per cent favoured amalgamation.
Steven King owns a business in Emerald Park and lives in White City. He believes the proposed boundary alteration is the best way to manage future growth.
“We have to have a cohesive plan and one government that looks after that,” he said.
King said the two elementary schools are bursting at the seams, which points to the need for a high school.
“Our kids are driving to Balgonie right now, and that’s not the best, so we need to attract things like that and then as your population grows you need recreational facilities ... You need to have a master plan and live to that master plan, not develop based on what someone’s willing to pay,” King said.
Building a high school is not contingent on creating a single municipality, but based on population and need, Jedlic said.
“We would certainly be supportive of that going ahead, whether it was in our jurisdiction or the town of White City,” she said.
White City resident John Panter supports amalgamation. Over five years, he’s attended about 200 council meetings evenly split between White City and Emerald Park.
“Planning and development has to be done by a single municipality whose elected officials come from within the community and are responsible to the community,” Panter said. “The way it is right now, Emerald Park — which has almost 40 per cent of the population of the RM of Edenwold — has one elected official on a seven-person council.”
He maintains the result is random planning and development.
“Instead of addressing our needs as residents of Emerald Park, it addresses the needs and ambition of the RM of Edenwold to keep tax revenues high,” Panter said. “That’s not sustainable in the long run.”
We have to have a cohesive plan and one government that looks after that.