TOWN OF CHESTERMERE AGENDA For the Special Meeting of Council to be held Monday, September 29, 2014 at 6:00pm in Council Chambers at the Municipal Office in accordance with Section 194 of the Municipal Government Act. CALL TO ORDER A. ADOPTION OF AGENDA E. ACTIONS/DECISIONS 1. City Status M. ADJOURNMENT City Status Proposal Executive Summary As per the Municipal Government Act, Chestermere became eligible for city status in 2007 after reaching a population of more than 10,000. With the results of the 2014 census indicating that Chestermere is now home to over 17,000 residents, Council asked Administration to pursue public consultation to determine if the residents of Chestermere would be in favour of changing the community’s official title from a ‘town’ to a ‘city’. Public consultation began in August with the intent to inform all residents of the proposal and provide a variety of feedback opportunities should they wish to express their support or concerns about city status. The following methods were utilized to inform residents: Weekly notices in the local paper from August 21 – October 1 Notices were sent to all homeowners as an insert in their utility bills Calgary’s NewsTalk 770 featured the story on a 5 p.m. news cycle on August 20 Two stories were submitted to and published in the local paper Large posters were placed in various locations in the community A webpage and regular posts were created for the Town’s official website www.chestermere.ca. Regular posts and an advertisement were made on the Town’s Facebook page Councillors were present at the community’s major events Residents were invited to attend a variety of events (in person and online) to share their feedback. Events included open houses, coffee conversations, tweetchats, online feedback forms, comment posters in the community, and meetings with Councillors. Council and Administration reached out to as many residents as possible to solicit their feedback using the methods available in our community. The data only captures the written comments provided to the Town and does not describe in detail the hundreds of in person conversations that were held. While there were initial questions regarding the proposal, what benefits a ‘city title’ could bring to the community, and what impacts it might have, very few residents expressed major concerns once those questions had been addressed. Of more than 17,000 residents in Chestermere, the Town received less than 250 written responses regarding city status. Less than 65 of those were explicitly negative written comments about whether or not the community should change its title to a ‘city. As such, it is the conclusion of Administration that the vast majority of residents are either in favour or impartial to changing the town’s title to ‘city’. The following pages provide a more detailed breakdown of the consultation methods utilized and the feedback provided by residents. Legislative Background – City Status History of Chestermere Chestermere was first incorporated as a summer village effective April 1, 1977 and changed status to a Town effective March 1, 1993. In 2007, Chestermere reached a population of 11, 262 (officially surpassing the threshold for eligibility to become a City) and in 2014 had a total population of 17,203. Legislated Authority The Municipal Government Act (MGA) RSA 2000 Chapter M-26 and regulations as amended provide the authority for municipal governments in Alberta. Part 4 establishes the criteria for Formation, Fundamental Changes and Dissolution. Specifically, sections 91-97.2 addresses status change. There are currently 17 cities, 108 towns, 95 villages and 51 summer villages in Alberta and the MGA describes the characteristics of the different urban municipalities. Aside from Chestermere there are eight other municipalities with enough population to request city status. Of note Fort McMurray and Sherwood Park with populations around 80,000 people have remained hamlets and operate as part of a rural constituency but they both have specialized municipality status – which basically gives them a city’s authority. Under section 82, a town may incorporate as a city when it reaches a population of 10,000 people and a when the majority of the buildings are on parcels of land smaller than 1850 square meters. As per section 93, status change can be requested by the municipality or its residents at any time after reaching the population threshold. Section 76 of MGA authorizes the Minister of Municipal Affairs to establish standards, principles and criteria which are to be taken into account in considering the change in status of municipalities. Staff at Municipal Affairs indicated the following is required if Council wishes to proceed with a request to change status: A motion of Council requesting the Minister of Municipal Affairs change the status from town to city accompanied with an effective date (allowing for approximately three months from the date of the request to the effective date of incorporation); The Minister will want to know that the town has informed its residents and they are in favor of the change or at the very least that there is not a significant opposition; The Minister will want an overview of the town’s public consultation process to be included with the request. There are a number of ways we can consult with residents; Once the Minister has reviewed the request, a recommendation would require an Order in Council and would be approved by the Lieutenant Governor in Council. Under section 97.2, the effects on the municipality following a status change are as follows: Each Councillor of the town continues as a Councillor until a successor is sworn into office; Each officer and employee continues with the same rights and duties until the council of the new municipality otherwise directs; All bylaws and resolutions of the old municipality that the new municipality has the authority to pass are continued as the bylaws and resolutions of the new municipality; All taxes due to the old municipality are deemed to be arrears of taxes due to the new municipality and may be collected and dealt with by the new municipality as if it has imposed the taxes; All rights of action and actions by or against the old municipality may be continued or maintained by or against the new municipality; All property vested in the old municipality becomes vested in the new municipality and may be dealt with by the new municipality in its own name subject to any trusts or other conditions applicable to the property; All other assets, liabilities, rights, duties, functions and obligations of the old municipality become vested in the new municipality, and the new municipality may deal with them in its own name. Section 99 of MGA also provides: The change of a municipality’s name does not affect any obligations, rights, action or property of the municipality; The use of the old name of the municipality in any proceedings, agreements, notices or documents after the name has been changed does not affect the validity of those proceedings, agreements, notices or documents. In July 2014, a presentation was made to Council regarding the legislated authority for a status change, the legislated effects of status change, and a presentation of research that had been found when looking at the most recent municipalities that had gone through a status change from a town to a city. A call was made early August to Municipal Affairs and the Municipal Sustainability branch. The conversation clarified and confirmed the legislated authority of the municipality and the legislated expectations of Municipal Affairs when considering a status change. City Status Public Consultation Process When Council began looking at the potential for Chestermere to pursue City Status in July, they were aware that a public consultation process was required by the MGA and important to ensure that there was not significant opposition to the change. A variety of events, activities and meetings were planned to ensure that we reached out to as many people in the community as possible. Below is an explanation of public consultation work and results found. Summary: Page Number 1. Advertising 1 2. In Person Feedback Opportunities 4 3. Electronic/Online Feedback Opportunities 5 4. Summary of Comments 7 5. Plan to Address Additional Questions 8 1. Advertising: As we wanted all the residents of Chestermere to have an opportunity to provide their input, we made use of all the advertising methods available to us in our community. See Appendix A for all the advertising done in the community. a. Local Weekly Newspaper Advertisements The weekly paper is a free paper delivered to every household in Chestermere and the surrounding area. The paper estimates that the hard copy paper reaches 5980 households, readership is 31,000 and their digital edition receives 3500 pageviews per week. August 21 – September 10: We published an advertisement (above) for three consecutive weeks advising residents that we would be asking for their input regarding city status and letting them know when and how they could provide their feedback. September 11-17: We published a smaller ad in the local paper explaining that residents could provide their feedback. September 18-October 1: The Town published a formal notice explaining that Council would review the feedback and debate the question at a special meeting on September 29 at 6:00 p.m. It also indicated the final date for feedback (pictured left). 1 b. Local Weekly Newspaper Stories (See Appendix B): We submitted a story to the local paper and it was published on August 21. It outlined why the town was considering city status, upcoming events to provide input and methods of providing feedback. The paper also featured a front page notice about the question of city status (see right).