A special joint session of two council committees voted Monday night to recommend that council approve a review of the 1995 amalgamation agreement following a meeting yesterday with representatives for a coalition of rural residents.
Jeffrey O’Donnell, the CEO of the Conklin Resource and Development Advisory Committee, spoke on behalf of the coalition on Monday evening, arguing there are several areas of the agreement which require an update, including the ways businesses and residents are taxed, how many council representatives there are for each community, and the way that spending is decided upon for rural communities.
The rural residents have expressed serious concerns that rural areas are not being treated fairly under the agreement and are not being adequately represented a the municipal level.
They argue the intent of the agreement was to enhance the prosperity for the entire region but that has not played out, especially considering there are areas in the rural communities that still don’t have water and sewer services.
If council approves a review it could look at rural representation on council, taxation and spending, core services, committee make-up and other elements of how the rural areas are governed at a municipal level.
The rural residents want the review paid for by the RMWB and the province and asked that it be conducted by an objective third party.
All members of the two committees present at the joint meeting voted in favour of recommending the review to council.
