CONCLUSION
The City of Regina (City) remains committed to the White Butte Regional Planning Committee (WBRPC). Following the withdrawal of three committee members, the City has agreed alongside the remaining members to continue to meet and advance ongoing projects and promote regional interests. As next steps, the WBRPC discussed going through a strategic planning exercise that would include a new work plan and priorities and to strengthen the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and Terms of Reference (TOR) upon which the WBRPC is based.
A revised MOA and TOR is attached as Appendix A. The proposed revisions were made with input from the members of the WBRPC and were guided by the WBRPC secretariat and all remaining WBRPC members will be taking the updated MOA to their respective Councils for adoption.
BACKGROUND
The City has been a member of the WBRPC since 2013. The WBRPC was formed to address regional issues affecting its member municipalities (Rural Municipality (RM) of Sherwood No. 159, RM of Edenwold No. 158, Town of White City, Town of Pilot Butte, Town of Balgonie, Village of Edenwold and the City of Regina). On January 24, 2018, City Administration were notified that three members (Town of Pilot Butte, Town of Balgonie, and RM of Edenwold No. 158) were leaving the WBRPC; however, a commitment remains to continue working towards greater regional collaboration through the WBRPC and for the WBRPC to operate as a strategic planning group promoting joint planning cooperation. The WBRPC has agreed to update its MOA and TOR to reflect the ongoing commitment to regional cooperation among its remaining members.
DISCUSSION
Revisions to the MOA strengthens several aspects of the agreement’s TOR. A chair of the WBRPC shall be appointed annually.
Membership to the WBRPC has been updated, the process of joining or withdrawing from the WBRPC has been updated and a jointly developed conflict resolution process has been added. In the past, there was a fixed annual fee of $5000.00. The MOA now reads that each municipality agrees to contribute equitably to the operational costs of the WBRPC except for the Village of Edenwold, which will contribute 10 per cent of the contribution of the Towns and/or RMs or an amount deemed equitable based on population. The contribution amount will be determined annually. Regional Economic Development has been added to the purpose of the WBRPC. A full list of changes to the MOA is attached as Appendix B.
Conflict Resolution
The following steps will be followed to resolve conflicts that arise between members of the WBRPC:
1) The complainant will contact the impacted member to discuss the issue and seek resolution. If this is not appropriate or not successful, the complainant will proceed to step two.
2) The complainant will bring the complaint to the secretariat. The secretariat will organize a facilitated conversation between all parties involved.
a) In this conversation the complainant will speak to the nature of conflict in a factual, non-prejudiced manner.
b) The objective of the conversation will be to understand the facts of the complaint and to determine a resolution.
If a resolution cannot be agreed upon by the involved parties, proceed to step three.
3) The secretariat will gather any additional information and perspective from each party involved.
4) The secretariat will present the information collected to the WBRPC in an anonymous manner. The secretariat will present alternative resolutions to resolve the conflict.
5) The WBRPC will discuss the alternative resolutions (or offer new ones) with the goal of coming to consensus on an appropriate resolution.
If consensus is not achieved, the WBRPC proceeds to step six.
6) The WBRPC will vote on alternative resolutions.
a) Should there be a tie – the WBRPC will further deliberate and a second vote will be held. This process will be repeated until a solution is determined.
b) If no solution is achieved, the WBRPC will seek the services of a contracted mediator.
RECOMMENDATION IMPLICATIONS
Financial Implications
The annual membership fee for the WBRPC was $5000.00 for 2018. This fee was budgeted for within the existing council budget.
Environmental Implications
None with respect to this report.
Policy and/or Strategic Implications
The City’s commitment to the WBRPC is in keeping with Design Regina: The Official Community Plan Bylaw No. 2013-48 (OCP) - Section D1 Regional Context Goal 1 –Support Regional Growth: to support a more sustainable and beneficial approach to growth within the region through collaborative regional planning and service delivery. Section 3.2 of the OCP directs the City to work with regional partners to explore strategic planning initiatives.
Other Implications
None with respect to this report.
Accessibility Implications
None with respect to this report.
COMMUNICATIONS
None with respect to this report.
DELEGATED AUTHORITY
The recommendations contained in this report require City Council approval.
Respectfully submitted, 
| Respectfully submitted, 
|
, Planning | City Planning & Development |
Report prepared by:
Brad McKenzie, Policy Analyst