The RM of Edenwold has elected to support a pair of resolutions pertaining to municipal annexations ahead of this year’s Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities annual convention.
Support for the resolutions was approved by RM council at special meetings held Jan. 26 and Feb. 7 respectively.
The first resolution, moved by Coun. Karen Kotylak, calls on SARM to lobby the provincial government to extend, from one year to three years, the legislated period a municipality must currently wait — if its annexation proposal is rejected — before filing a new application with the Saskatchewan Municipal Board.
In its resolution, the RM argues that such an extension would prevent “a cycle of continuous applications going to the SMB on issues that already have a decision rendered” as well as “additional administrative and financial burdens and legal fees” incurred by municipalities and the SMB alike.
The SMB denied last January a bid from the Town of White City to annex nearly 4,000 acres of developed and undeveloped land, including the entirety of Emerald Park and the Great Plains Industrial Park, from the RM.
With one year since passed, existing provincial law now allows the town to re-apply for annexation, though White City mayor Brian Fergusson recently told Grasslands News any decision on another application won’t be made until the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal rules on White City’s arguments against the initial SMB judgment.
At its Feb. 7 meeting, as moved by Coun. Nicole Posehn, council further agreed to co-sponsor a related resolution proposed by the RM of Sherwood.
That proposal requests that SARM lobby the provincial government for a review of its Guide to Municipal Boundary Alterations and related legislation in order to prevent “baseless applications where the applicant municipality cannot meet a minimum threshold of the demonstrated need of land for growth purposes” according to its planning documents and growth strategy.
SARM’s 2024 annual convention is scheduled for March 13-15 in Regina.
