The MD of Bonnyville and City of Cold Lake have a little extra money in their pockets when it comes to their Intermunicipal Collaborative Framework (ICF) negotiations.
In order to prepare for the upcoming ICF agreement discussions, the MD and city jointly applied for Alberta Municipal Affairs funding through the Mediation and Collaborative Processes component of the 2018 Alberta Community Partnership program.
Their request was for $50,000 to help cover the cost of hiring a mediator.
"We recognize negotiations between these ICFs are going to be difficult. They're going to be not your run of the mill, because there's a long-standing history between the MD and the city," said MD Reeve Greg Sawchuk.
Last week, the MD announced their matching-grant application was approved, and $50,000 was coming their way.
Both Sawchuk and City of Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland agreed it was good news.
Copeland said he has been confident in their application.
"That money is going to go towards setting up a consultant to work on drafting an agreement between the MD and Cold Lake for the ICF agreement," he continued.
The ICF agreement has been mandated by the province, and requires each municipality to create a framework on services and infrastructure with their neighbours.
For example, because the City of Cold Lake and MD of Bonnyville share borders, they are obligated to create an ICF.
However, in some areas, the two municipalities already have agreements made.
"We have a number of agreements already in place in regards to fire, water, and those types of things, but the big part is going to be the recreation portion of that," expressed Sawchuk.
During their annexation discussions, the city and MD came up with documents Copeland believes can easily transfer into the ICF.
"We signed off, during the annexation process, we have some documentations that will be able to be built into the ICF in terms of protocol," he added. "We're already off to the races, we just have to hire somebody to help us and be a mediator and guide the two municipalities on building the ICF."
Sawchuk said, the application was to take advantage of funding Alberta Municipal Affairs was offering.
"One of the things I like to say to my kids is "it doesn't matter who is in power, you look at what they offer, and if there is some low hanging fruit there, you grab onto it and make use of it.' In this case, the MD is going to make use of some free money to help us negotiate."
