Hussar: village versus hamlet

Miriam Ostermann
Times Associate Editor

 

Infrastructure demands, provincial operating funding cuts, and a declining population are among numerous factors that prompted ratepayers’ request for a viability review, providing much needed clarity and determining Hussar’s competence as a village.
Municipal Affairs performed a screening interview with the village staff earlier this year, after local officials inquired about the review – formerly known as the dissolution study.
Sparked by the concerns of 31 community members during a town hall meeting, the demand is finally receiving traction with the formation of a Village of Hussar Review Team.
“It’s not that we want a dissolution, it’s that we want to know that we can remain viable,” said Hussar CAO Jennifer Pratt. “It’d be really great to know where we’re at for infrastructure. Then we would know the state of our pipes, our buildings, our roads and how much it would cost to fix everything. Right from the pipes in the ground to the roofs of the buildings.”
Dependent on government funding, the village was left in a predicament last year, when cuts to the Municipal Sustainability Initiative operational funds drove up property tax rates to accommodate the $138,000 water and sewer bill.
In an government effort to phase out MRI funding, as set out in the 2013 Alberta budget cuts, Hussar only received $23,000 in funding, a notable drop from previous years that stood firm at $50,000. Because the funding is based on population, the 176-member community was hurting more than other municipalities, officials said.
By conducting a viability review, it will be determined whether Hussar will remain a village or become a hamlet under Wheatland County. According to Pratt, providing services such as bylaw enforcement proved difficult for the village as the cost was too much to bear.
With the involvement of Municipal Affairs, representatives from seven organizations will make up the review team, including the team’s recently appointed Wheatland County CAO Alan Parkin and Division 7 Wheatland County Councillor Ben Armstrong.
“I know a lot of small municipalities are having financial issues, and probably the biggest issue, and we have them in the bigger municipalities too, is infrastructure,” said Armstrong, who had attended some of their village council and town hall meetings.
“I’m not sure what the Municipal Affairs is looking for in that study, as this would be the first one we’ve gone through as far as a viability study.”
Hussar had previously been the subject of a dissolution study, but the newly developed viability review remains foreign to the village and the county. The process will follow the guidelines set out under the Municipal Sustainability Strategy (MSS), which focuses on building sustainable communities through municipal partnerships and collaboration. Approved in June 2012, the review acts as a major component of the strategy and includes an analysis of the village’s administration, finances, and services. Furthermore the review will offer assistance by identifying areas requiring improvement in hopes of achieving viability.
The review team, which is made up of members from Hussar, Wheatland County, the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties, the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, the Alberta Rural Municipal Administrator’s Association, the local Government Administration Association, and Municipal Affairs, will have their first meeting in June.
“There are some people that are for becoming a hamlet, and there are some people for staying a village,” said Pratt. “So it’ll just answer that question once and for all.”