After a failed mediation and a lengthy arbitration process, Brazeau County will return to funding recreation facilities in a 50/50 split with the Town of Drayton Valley.
Arbitrator Robert McBean QC, who was appointed by the province to settle the dispute between the two municipalities, made the ruling last week. McBean also ruled that the County must now start contributing to the operating costs of the Early Childhood Development Centre in an amount that reflects the number of Brazeau residents who use the facility.
“I’m happy that the arbitration process is over and that both municipalities can continue to work together and move forward,” said Drayton Valley Mayor Nancy Dodds.
The long running disagreement came to a head in September of 2020 when County council declined to approve an agreement that would have seen Brazeau contributing $1.046 million toward the operating deficits of recreation facilities that are located in town but are used by residents of both municipalities. Instead the County passed a motion to fund at a rate of $58.49 per capita, for a total of $454,548, leaving the Town on the hook for the balance.
At the core of the dispute was the County’s argument that the costs of the facilities in question, particularly the Omniplex, were unreasonably high and that the Town was not adequately accounting for where the money was going.
Last week McBean ruled that that was not the case.
“There is no evidence before me that the number of employees working at any one time at the Omniplex is excessive,” he wrote. “Or that the level of service is unreasonable, out of the ordinary or unnecessary. Or that Town is able to do anything about the wages it is mandated to pay pursuant to its collective bargaining agreements. Or that its salaries are excessive or improperly allocated to the Recreation Facilities.”
McBean also ruled that a 50/50 split between the two municipalities was the best and fairest way of sharing the costs involved with recreation.
While that judgment means things are basically back to where they were, McBean’s ruling on the Early Childhood Development Centre takes the County’s relationship with that facility in an entirely new direction.
Over the years since the ECDC opened in 2008 the County has repeatedly declined requests from the Town to help fund the centre. The County’s long standing position has been that childcare is not a municipal issue and should not be funded through municipal dollars. However, McBean ruled that the ECDC does qualify as an intermunicipal service and benefits the residents of both municipalities. The County will now be required to participate in cost sharing based on the average percentage of children attending the ECDC who live in the County. Historical numbers suggest that figure is somewhere between 35 and 40 percent of total users in an average year. The operating deficit for the ECDC in 2019 was a little over $142,000.
Brazeau County Reeve Bart Guyon did not respond to a request for comment prior to the Free Press editorial deadline.
