HUMBOLDT — Humboldt is withdrawing from a regional alliance of towns, villages and rural municipalities.
Effective Jan. 1, 2021, the city will no longer be a member of the Mid-Sask Municipal Alliance. Council voted in favour of withdrawal at its May 25 meeting.
Councillor Lorne Pratchler said the value of the city’s membership in the organization has been in question ever since he got on council in 2016.
“When we look at the dollar amount that's been spent on the alliance for the City of Humboldt, I have yet to see a return on that over the almost four years that I've been here.”
Much of the work the alliance was doing focused on updating planning bylaws and getting them to a modern standard. As a city, Humboldt had already done much of that work and therefore wasn’t benefiting as much as the smaller communities.
Rob Muench, Humboldt’s mayor, opposed the withdrawal.
“I thought we were turning the corner of that group,” he said, adding the alliance was focusing more of its time on regional economic development.
The mayor said he argued that being part of the group was also part of the city’s duty in working with its neighbours.
Muench said he’s hopeful the move won’t affect the city’s part in regional co-operation.
“I've tried to emphasize that we're part of a region. We're not just standalone,” he said. “We've worked well with RM of Humboldt, who is our closest neighbor, and we're doing a number of things with them, including a zoning and planning district that we've put together.
The mayor said he expects regional co-operation will be done in a less formal manner.
