Okotoks’ mayor is going to take on one of the top jobs in the Calgary region in the next year.
Mayor Bill Robertson was selected the Calgary Regional Partnership’s (CRP) secretary treasurer earlier this month, a position he said will give Okotoks a stronger voice in the region.
“I will definitely take a leadership role, so to speak, with the CRP,” he said.
The CRP selected Cochrane Mayor Truper McBride as the group’s chairperson and Chestermere Mayor Patricia Matthews as vice-chair.
Robertson will play a lead role with the group’s finances, including putting together its annual budget and applying for grants.
He will also play a role in helping to determine the CRP’s future.
The new executive and Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi make up a team leading the CRP through the two-year transition process determining the final version of the CMP and its implementation that its membership will approve.
Members need to decide whether they will remain in the partnership during this period.
Okotoks will need to determine how it will deal with future growth and where it fits within the Calgary Municipal Plan (CMP).
Should the Town choose to retain the population cap, Robertson said the CRP has said it will be accepted by the partnership. Ultimately, he wants to get the best deal for Okotoks.
“We’ve been given assurances for the last couple years that our particular finite growth model fits in to the CMP,” he said. “But, exactly what that entails, the devil is in the details.”
Robertson said it’s also hoped a deal can be reached with rural municipalities that opted out of the CRP — including the MDs of Foothills and Wheatland and Rocky View County — that will see them rejoin the partnership.
“I know they were concerned with the voting structure, previously, and the very hard line the former City of Calgary mayor took,” he said.
Robertson said Nenshi has taken on a conciliatory tone on the governance structure of the CRP and he is hopeful an agreement can be struck to bring the region’s rural municipalities back on side.
According to Robertson, his position with the CRP will allow him to promote Okotoks’ water conservation model in the region.
“I’d certainly like to think the member municipalities will practice due diligence in water conservation measures and sustainable communities,” he said.
