Skip to content

Hearing set after MD resident objects annexation

An MD of Bonnyville resident has made it clear they don’t want to be part of the city once the annexation takes place in 2019. “We have one or two residents that didn’t come to agreements with the city.
21.news.annexation
The City of Cold Lake has received some opposition to the annexation of 11 quarter sections of land from the MD. Here, Mayor Craig Copeland gives residents an overview of the areas being annexed, during an open house earlier this year.

An MD of Bonnyville resident has made it clear they don’t want to be  part of the city once the annexation takes place in 2019.


“We have one or two residents that didn’t come to agreements with the city. They’re going to exercise their right to disagree, and that’s part of the Municipal Government Board (MGB) hearing, which will come to Cold Lake at the end of June,” explained Mayor Craig Copeland. 


During the hearing, the MGB will hear both sides’ arguments before making a decision, which will be provided to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Lieutenant Governor General of Alberta for approval.


At their corporate priorities meeting on Tuesday, May 15, council discussed the resident’s concerns, which refer specifically to tie-ins to city water and land-use around the area of their property.


Regardless of the outcome of the merit hearing, Copeland is confident the annexation will be taking place in time for the January 2019 implementation.


“It shouldn’t affect the decision, it’s not going to impact how the MGB is going to go about doing the process. It’s normal that not everybody is going to agree,” Copeland expressed. “Not everybody is going to be happy about moving into the city, and that landowner has the right to state their case why.”


According to city CAO Kevin Nagoya, the city has been working diligently to submit their annexation application, however they have faced some hurdles along the way.


“It took us a while to get the final report, in large part, because a growth management study had to be redone in the last six months based on the annexation agreement on the actual annexation quarters being provided to the city,” he said. 


Last June, Cold Lake and the MD of Bonnyville signed off on an annexation agreement, which included the hand over of 11 quarter sections of land from the MD, with a $500,000 compensation from the city.


The purpose was to give the City of Cold Lake a more rectangular perimeter, compared to its current dumbbell shape, while giving the city control over the right of ways for drainage.


“As we saw this spring, the drainage of water is so critical. We want to make sure we can control our utility corridors, our drainage corridors, and it just shapes up the city that much better,” Copeland expressed.


For those living in the annexation areas, even though you will become a City of Cold Lake resident, that doesn’t mean your taxes will be based off of the city’s mill rate.


Copeland explained, “How it’s going to work, is when you’re a rural landowner becoming a part of the city, the taxes you’re paying are going to be the lowest of the two mill rates. You’re always going to be taxed at the lower mill rate, until you subdivide your land and put in a subdivision application.”


In the end, Copeland believes “for landowners who are a part of the annexation, in theory, their land value should increase now that it’s going to be a part of the City of Cold Lake.”

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks