Not a lot is expected to change for residents of the new hamlet of Grande Cache. The town was officially dissolved on January 1st and is now a part of the Municipal District of Greenview.
A public vote on the move was held in late September 2018, but the province didn’t approve the date until the end of November. Deputy Reeve Tom Burton says because of the short turnaround, it will likely be four to six months before the MD’s council decides on any changes to the Grande Cache’s bylaws.
“After we evaluate everything, we will take into consideration what has to be done to make sure that the residents of the hamlet of Grande Cache will be looked after in the proper manner.”
The review will likely look into things like the duplication of services, of which Burton expects to find some. He adds that there’s also the potential for changes to other parts of the region.
“Once we go through an evaluate the services, maybe there are services that are going to be needed for the rest of the rest of the residents of the MD that we don’t have right now,” he explains. “Do we drop them or do we increase other ones for the rest of the residents?”
Grande Cache is now the MD’s ninth ward, and an interim council has been formed with the addition of former town councillors Duane Didow and Tyler Olsen. They will govern the hamlet until the next municipal election in 2021, while all town employees are now MD employees.
The most noticeable change going into the New Year is the closure of the Grande Cache Municipal Library. It was operated under the Yellowhead Regional Library, while the MD of Greenview’s libraries run in the Peace Library System.
“We’ve got to look at incorporating a municipal library to look after the library in Grande Cache,” Burton says. “It’s going to take a month or so of getting all your ducks in a row – so to speak – and then you’ve got to go into the library to re-catalogue.”
A decision on whether to create a Greenview Municipal Library Board will be made at a January 14th meeting. If approved, it would be responsible for the administration of all libraries within the hamlets of the MD, including Grande Cache and DeBolt. Applications to sit on the board are being taken until January 4th.