Alberta Municipal Affairsí (MA) ongoing investigation into the Town of Irricana is nearly finished.
The Town received a letter, dated Jan. 5, penned by Michael Merrit, assistant deputy minister of MA, stating the inspectors completed their fieldwork last fall and the department is working on finalizing a report for the ministerís consideration.
ìOnce it has been approved, the report will be presented at a public meeting in Irricana,î stated the letter.
Mayor Lisa Constantini said receiving the report will be a relief as several initiatives, including the Townís communications and remunerations policies are on hold.
ìI am hoping that sooner, rather than later, we get the recommendations,î said Constantini. ìIt would be nice to deal with everything we have on hold.î
Constantini said she would like it if the MA public meeting was held within the next couple of months.
ìThe letter outlines that we will hear it all at once, so hopefully there wonít be any misconstrued interpretations on what was said.î said Constantini.
The MA investigation was done at the behest of a group of Irricana residents that submitted a formal petition, launched April 20, 2011, asking the organization to look into the Townís conduct.
Over the past year, several issues have plagued the small town, located in Rocky Viewís northeast, including both a permanent and temporary CAO stepping down within months of one another.
According to Irricanaís Deputy Mayor Andrew Carr, the MA letter came as a direct result of complaints he had filed with the department against the investigators.
ìI really have issues with the conduct of the investigators,î said Carr.
Carr said the investigators gave a lot of advice to the Town during the investigation and he would prefer the department wait to deliver the report to everyone at once.
ìThis investigator seems to be giving us a lot of details of what we should do, seemingly against what other municipalities are doing,î said Carr, citing several examples, including councilís dissolution of the policy review committee.
ìI have a big issue with the CAO and mayor saying they were told this from MA,î said Carr. ìI just want to make sure that the council, my mayor, my CAO are all on the same page with the policies we are following.î
The MA letter stated, ìit is important that everyone... understand clearly that MA does not direct municipalities as a normal course of business; any comments provided by inspectors, or by our municipal advisors, are in the form of advice only.î
The letter went on to state that inspectors have received a large number of e-mail and telephone inquires about the inspection process as well as the day-to-day operational matters in the town.
ìI have directed the inspectors to no longer respond to... inquiries regarding the inspection,î stated the letter.
Carr said he is happy that all communication has been shut off.
ìThere is no reason why any investigator should be giving advice, that isnít their role,î said Carr. ìI am very much looking forward to the official report and everyone getting the same information from the same source at the exact same time.î
Municipal Affairsí letter stated it would provide a meeting date prior to releasing its report. No response was received to a request for an interview by press time.
