The Town of White City has submitted a formal proposal to alter the boundaries in the RM of Edenwold, incorporating White City, Emerald Park and other nearby residential and commercial lands.
The town says there are 5,500 people currently in the area. That number is expected to increase to 22,000 by 2045.
White City began the annexation process last May, submitting a request to combine the nearby subdivisions into one municipality. White City Mayor Bruce Evans said the alteration will “provide the necessary governance structure to add the range of services, long-term community planning and democratic representation that should be available to all residents of a rapidly growing urban community.”
“We’ve listened carefully to all of the feedback from the community and, as a result are moving forward in the process,” he said in a news release. “Residents believe this is long overdue and necessary for coordinated future growth and development.”
Both White City and Emerald Park held a series of town hall meetings last fall to gather public input on the annexation.
White City residents had mostly positive feedback, but those living in Emerald Park had concerns.
"White City does, what White City does,” RM of Edenwold C.A.O. Kim McIvor said. “They decide on those things and then they plow forward in those directions. We're all about cooperation and working together, they're all about their set agenda."
McIvor said that althought White City is within its legal right, he does not think this is the right move. An exit survey last October showed 81 per cent of people in Emerald Park were opposed to the takeover.
White City says it recently conducted a poll by NRG Research Group of the whole area, including White City, Emerald Park and the surrounding area, which reported that 71 per cent of respondents were in favour of the proposed boundary changes.
White City will hold a mandatory public meeting to review the application and hear community submissions on June 5.
