submitted by City of St. Albert
After nearly three years since the formation of the Annexation Negotiating Sub-Committee, the City of St. Albert and Sturgeon County are pleased to announce that a final annexation agreement has been reached between the two municipalities.
St. Albert City Council and Sturgeon County Council approved the negotiated annexation agreement on September 21 and September 22, respectively. St. Albert City Council also gave direction to its administration to make an application to the Municipal Government Board (MGB).
“The City and the County have worked extremely hard to reach this agreement,” says City of St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron. “We feel it addresses the majority of the issues brought to the negotiation table and sets the stage for continued intermunicipal relationship building and sub-regional growth.”
“We feel the extensive work and commitment in this collaborative process was worth the effort,” adds Sturgeon County Mayor Alanna Hnatiw. “The County worked persistently to ensure as much continuity as possible for residents who will now become part of St. Albert, as well as to successfully negotiate amicable terms for the County. We look forward to continuing to work with the City on items such as intermunicipal transportation, environmental stewardship and other infrastructure of mutual benefit outside of the annexation process.”
An application to the MGB will take place after the final round of public and stakeholder participation occurs in October – details forthcoming. Led by the City of St. Albert, sessions will focus on sharing information about the negotiated agreement. Once this process is complete, the City can file its annexation application with the MGB. At that point onward, interested parties can make submissions to the MGB.
In order to facilitate the creation of an annexation agreement, the two municipalities established an Annexation Negotiating Sub-Committee, a subset of the Intermunicipal Affairs Committee (IAC), which has worked towards a final agreement since December 2017. Councils for both municipalities would like to thank sub-committee members for their dedication:
▪ Sturgeon County: Mayor Hnatiw, Councillor Bokenfohr (Vice-Chair), Deputy Mayor Toms, Susan Evans (former Councillor), CAO Reegan McCullough
▪ City of St. Albert: Mayor Heron, Councillor Watkins (Chair), Councillor Hughes, CAO Kevin Scoble
For more information, visit stalbert.ca/annexation or sturgeoncounty.ca/annexation.
