It seems the hammer is poised and ready to fall on the Town of Barrhead and the County of Barrhead.
Last week, both councils and chief administrative officers of the town and county received a letter from Municipal Affairs minister Shaye Anderson that said he would be using his authority under Section 570 (c) of the Municipal Government Act to appoint an arbitrator and issue a binding order that both will adopt.
Those are ominous words from the province, but ones that we believe should come as no surprise.
Roughly one year ago, former minister Danielle Laravee urged the town and the county to work out their differences and come to an agreement on their own.
When that failed, she appointed a member of Dispute Resolution Services to act as a mediator.
At that time, about six months ago, Laravee said if an agreement was not reached within half a year, Municipal Affairs would do it for them.
The amount of funding the county contributes is 14 per cent and the town believes that number is woefully inadequate.
The town argues that the county should pay more regardless of the fact they have a standing agreement.
The agreement itself, one which county councillors continuously make mention of in connection with any recreation-related discussion, expires in October of this year.
We have suggested on at least one other occasion that it was in the county’s best interest to come to a negotiated agreement.
Now the choice is out of their hands.
Even if the county had raised its contributions to 40 per cent, while the town probably would not have been thrilled, it would have been an increase.
More importantly it would have been an independent decision made by the people of this area.
However, now the town and the county no longer have a chance to set those conditions.
All that matters are the facts.
What it means now is that if you are from the county and utilize the town’s facilities or if you have heard councillor remarks that the majority of recreational usage is county-based, the writing is now the wall. One way or another the county will pay more.
The question is no longer what the hypothetical magic number will be that will make both sides happy.
Instead, we must now contemplate what numbers will be dictated.
Hopefully, they are ones that works for both municipalities and do not drive residents away from taking advantage of the recreational opportunities in our community.
Would have, should have, could have.
