ST. PAUL - The Town and County of St. Paul are hoping to conduct a regional services study to find synergies and efficiencies.
Both municipal councils approved motions to move ahead with applying to the Alberta Community Partnership (ACP) grant program to fund the study.
"As we are all going to be faced with challenging budgets, the CAO’s are putting forward a project that would look at the services provided by each municipality and what services could be delivered regionally to either improve services or reduce costs for the partnering municipalities," reads the County of St. Paul's Nov. 9 agenda.
The Town of St. Paul will be the managing partner on the study, if the grant is successful.
The study will also include the Town of Elk Point and the Summer Village of Horseshoe Bay, and CAOs have already met to discuss the potential study.
County of St. Paul CAO Kitz noted that the municipalities already work well together, and have established regional partnerships in the form of a regional occupational health and safety team, and a regional emergency management team.
It was noted that if the grant is successful, there would be no costs to the municipalities.
During the Town of St. Paul's Nov. 8 meeting, the grant application was very briefly discussed, with CAO Steven Jeffery saying he hoped the study could help find "synergies" and result in an overall improvement in services that could also save dollars. Town council approved moved forward with the application.
The ACP program supports municipalities on building capacity, as well as for regional collaboration opportunities. Each municipality can only manage one project and projects must include two or more partnering municipalities.
Other ACP grants
The County of St. Paul, County of Two Hills, Smoky Lake County, and Lamont County are looking to update their ortho photos for their Geographical Information Systems (GIS), and are coming together to apply for an ACP grant to help cover the costs.
In information presented to County council, Kitz said municipalities should plan to update ortho photos every three to five years and St. Paul last updated its photos in 2018.
"These photos are used throughout all departments in the County, but specifically assist our Assessment/Taxation and our Planning and Development Departments," reads the Nov. 9 agenda.
The County of Two Hills has offered to be the managing partner on the project.
"We anticipate that there may be a small amount unfunded for this project estimated at $2,000," said Kitz.
The County is also going to be involved in an ACP grant application to help put a tourism strategy together for the region.
The Summer Village of Horseshoe Bay has agreed to be the managing partner, with the County of St. Paul, Town of St. Paul and Town of Elk Point acting as partners. Municipalities and other stakeholders, including Travel Lakeland/Alberta’s Iron Horse Trail, STEP Economic Development Alliance, Elk Point Chamber of Commerce, NE Alberta Information Hub, Northern Alberta Bilingual Tourism Network (under CDEA), Jobs, Economy and Innovation Staff, and Travel Alberta Staff were all brought together to form the Regional Tourism Initiative Committee (RTIC) in November 2019.
"This committee has been working on creating an inventory of tourism assets, content development, marketing, assessment of products/experiences, and developed a number of itineraries that are in the process of being completed. RTIC has determined that St. Paul and Elk Point regions have a huge potential to be a major player for tourism in Northeast Alberta," reads the County agenda.
The committee feels there is enough information gathered to work on a Regional Tourism Strategy for the region.
A fourth ACP grant application is also being managed by the Town of Elk Point to conduct an Area Structure Plan around the Elk Point Airport.
"The Committee has been looking for ways to increase the use of the airport and enjoy a spin off economic development that would result from increased usage. In an effort to do this, the Committee has recommended that the County of St. Paul and the Town of Elk Point jointly apply for an ACP Grant to prepare an Area Structure Plan (ASP) around the airport," reads the County agenda.
Motions for all four ACP grant applications were carried by County of St. Paul council.
A previous motion to proceed with a grant application to help fund a recreation facility feasibility study was approved by council in July. The County of St. Paul would be the managing partner if the grant is successful. The feasibility study includes the Town of St. Paul, County of St. Paul, Town of Elk Point and Summer Village of Horseshoe Bay.
