A petition to dissolve the Village of Donalda as a municipality has drawn opposition from village council with the mayor expressing increased confidence about the future of the village following the recent $3.2m federal tourism grant.
With about 224 residents, the Village of Donalda could be dissolved as a municipality, if a study by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs concludes in that direction.
“We, as a council, definitely oppose dissolving Donalda as a municipality,” said Mayor Terry Nordahl.
“Our village is totally sustainable.”
If dissolved, the village would become a hamlet under the County of Stettler.
“We would lose our identity if we are dissolved,” said Mayor Nordahl.
Over the next few years, the village council plans to develop the quaint community, considering that tourism rail tours will regularly be coming to Donalda starting in 2011.
“This will definitely build our economy,” said Mayor Nordahl
Now council and administration are waiting to hear from the provincial government about the next step in the process to determine the future of the village.
The request for a dissolution study was initiated when the Village of Donalda was informed that the ministry had received a petition signed by about 35 residents last spring, said administrative officer Peter Simons.
A chief administrative officer to process the petition and study was then appointed by Municipal Affairs Minister Ray Danyluk.
“As a previous municipal inspection was conducted in 2004, I believe that a broader public consideration of the sustainability of the village is warranted,” Danyluk stated in a letter to Donalda council.
A dissolution study would probe the financial position and sustainability of the village.
Danyluk has recently reported that he wants to reduce the number of smaller municipalities, stating that about 60 of the province’s 359 municipalities are struggling to exist.
With that, the province has 44 villages of less than 300 people that don’t have the capacity to raise sufficient tax revenues to provide services, said Lloyd Bertschi, president of Alberta Urban Municipalities Association.