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Municipal Affairs to interview staff, council

Westlock County councillors, along with members of county staff, will be interviewed over the coming weeks as part of a preliminary inspection of the municipality.

Westlock County councillors, along with members of county staff, will be interviewed over the coming weeks as part of a preliminary inspection of the municipality.

Municipal Affairs has minister Danielle Larivee has accepted council’s request for an initial inspection and will send government representatives to conduct the preliminary review within the next two weeks, councillors learned at their Aug. 9 meeting in a letter from Larivee.

Acting reeve Don Savage said council isn’t sure what to expect during the process, but is pleased that it’s finally going ahead.

“We’re not sure what to expect,” said Savage. “I’m not sure what to expect, I’ve never been in one of these.”

Interim CAO Pat Vincent, who has some familiarity with the process from his time in Thorhild County, also indicated the news is welcome.

“I think it’s a positive response to council’s request … I think it’s an opportunity to clear the air,” Vincent said.

“Council, to their credit, made the request to the minister to come in and conduct a review and investigation because of the issues and circumstances that have surrounded the county over the last little while.”

The process will include interviews with all councillors, and key members of municipal staff, which will be held over the course of one or two days.

Staff will also review and analyze information that the municipality is required to submit annually to the ministry.

The purpose of the preliminary inspection is to determine whether a full-scale inspection of the county is needed. A full inspection would be put out to tender and would take as long as eight or nine months to complete.

Municipal Affairs spokesperson Jerry Ward explained there’s no timeline for the minister to report back to council and inform them if they’ll get a full inspection, however Vincent said he’s hopeful for an answer by the end of September.

Based on what he’s seen, Vincent said he suspects a full inspection might be in store.

“I’m suspecting the report might contain such a recommendation and the minister would engage an independent third party to do a very thorough investigation,” he said.

“Hopefully that report would shed light on all of the issues, provide what the facts are, and clear the air on the questions and concerns that have been raised and be able to settle it once and for all.”

Savage also said he’s hopeful a full-scale review would settle the issues once and for all.

“I think that’s hard to answer right now … I’d like to say it would answer everybody’s questions,” he said.

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