Amid ongoing negotiations for the possible amalgamation of Clearwater County and the Village of Caroline, the Amalgamation Negotiation Committee says it met on April 25, 2024 to discuss division of operational items between the two entities.

The negotiations were as follows:

Municipal Owned Facilities

• Clearwater County owns and maintains a total of 26 buildings and three recreation areas. These facilities are located within Condor, Leslieville, Nordegg, Rocky Mountain House, Caroline, NE 03-40-07-W5M and NE 13-39-08-W5M.
• The Village of Caroline owns and maintains a total of eight buildings and four recreation areas (all are within the Village of Caroline.)
• The Committee agreed to accept a report for all of these facilities (assets) to be transfer to the newly amalgamated municipality.

Public Works Five Year Captial Plan

• The Committee accepted a report with Clearwater County and the Village of Caroline preliminary capital budgets that would be transferred to the new municipality. Should amalgamation proceed, there will be a complete infrastructure/asset management study completed. The study will identify priorities and the capital budget may be adjusted.

Solid Waste Collections and Landfills (Operational)

• The Committee agreed for the current operational service levels of solid waste collections and landfills of Clearwater County and the Village of Caroline remain status quo to ensure uninterrupted service delivery, pending completion of a service level review by the new council.
• In addition, the Committee is seeking further advocacy efforts to prioritize the new municipality for grants to modernize the wastewater system in the Hamlet of Caroline.

Water Treatment & Distribution

• The Committee agreed that current water treatment & distribution (operational) of Clearwater County and the Village of Caroline remain status quo to ensure uninterrupted service delivery, pending completion of a service level review by the new council.

Fleet and Equipment

• The Committee agreed that current fleet and equipment operational service levels of Clearwater County and Village of Caroline remain status quo to ensure uninterrupted service delivery, pending completion of a service level review by the new council.

Utility Services and Rates

• The Committee agreed that current utility services and utility rates (operational) of Clearwater County and Village of Caroline remain status quo to ensure uninterrupted service delivery and current rates, pending completion of a service level review by the new council.

Public Works Operations Service Level Review

• The Committee agreed that current Public Works operational service levels of Clearwater County and the Village of Caroline remain status quo to ensure uninterrupted service delivery, pending completion of a service level review by the new council.

The Committee concluded the meeting with a motion to request that Village of Caroline Administration forward a copy of all grant applications put forth by the Village of Caroline to provincial and federal entities before the next Committee meeting on May 24, 2024.

Residents are invited to fill out on online survey which can be found here.