By rdnewsNOW staff

Intermunicipal Collaboration Frameworks

Lacombe County signs agreements with Bentley, Clive and Alix to specify service funding, delivery

Oct 21, 2019 | 1:01 PM

Following months of meetings and discussions, Lacombe County Council has announced newly signed Intermunicipal Collaboration Framework (ICF) agreements with the Town of Bentley, Village of Clive and Village of Alix.

Lacombe County officials say these documents specify what and how services are funded and delivered, as well as highlight the ways Lacombe County and each municipality can work together efficiently.

“There has been a lot of work done to get to this point, and on behalf of the town council, our staff and citizens, we are proud to have adopted the final ICF Master agreement,” said Town of Bentley Mayor Greg Rathjen, in a press release.

“We were pleased to work with the County on our ICF,” continued Village of Clive mayor Luci Henry. “Through this process, it was evident that both the Village and the County truly believe in the power of partnerships.”

Village of Alix mayor Rob Fehr added, “We feel the development of an Intermunicipal Collaboration Framework has strengthened communication between Lacombe County and the Village of Alix. We look forward to continuing to work closely with our neighbours on all matters of mutual interest.”

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According to Lacombe County Reeve Paula Law, the signing of the ICF agreements pave a path forward for continued collaboration and communication between Lacombe County and the respective municipalities.

“Lacombe County has long been a believer in the importance of having excellent working relationships with our urban partners.”

County officials note all three ICF agreements includes the following key points: an update and consolidation of the Fire Services Agreement between the municipality and county, an endorsement of the existing Facilities Operational Cost Sharing Agreement, a joint approach to capital planning for capital assets used by the village, town and county residents and an opportunity for each municipality to have input into policy and service level development for operating cost-sharing.

Those key points would be in addition to service inventories outlining the types of service, funding mechanisms, and the party(ies) responsible for delivering each service, including solid waste collection and disposal, fire response services, emergency management, recreation services, library services and seniors housing.

County officials point-out municipalities that share a common boundary must create an Intermunicipal Collaboration Framework (ICF), which is a new legislated requirement that was introduced in the Modernized Municipal Government Act in 2016.

Municipalities have until March 31, 2020 to finalize all required ICFs for their municipality.

Frameworks are intended to provide for integrated and strategic planning, delivery and funding of intermunicipal services, allocate scarce resources efficiently in delivering local services, and ensure municipalities contribute funding to services that benefit their residents.

Each framework must identify which service they provide, which service is shared between municipalities, and which are provided by third parties.

The ICF also details how the following services listed are funded/delivered: transportation, water and wastewater, solid waste, emergency services, recreation, and any other services that benefit residents in more than one of the municipalities that are parties to the framework.