Town councillors and public school trustees in Morinville have agreed to put aside past differences and work together on the issues surrounding a school project in that community.
At a joint council/board meeting Feb. 23, which was open to the public, both groups met in town council chambers and agreed to bury the hatchet and work together to get a new public junior high school built as soon as possible.
"We need to hit the reset button," deputy mayor Rob Ladouceur said.
Progress on the $25-million project ground to a halt last month after the division sent a letter home to parents explaining problems with the proposed site, located between 104 Street and 107 Street behind the current arena, appeared insurmountable – in part because of the town's traffic requirements and an uncertain demolition date for the arena.
Councillors responded at the Feb. 9 council meeting, dismissing many of those concerns and announcing they had approached Education Minister David Eggen with a proposed solution of a temporary school on the same site.
Representatives of both parties met with Eggen in Edmonton Feb.17. Following that meeting, Eggen committed to working with the Transportation and Infrastructure departments to address some of the traffic issues around the site, and to making sure the funds were available to build the school.
The main hurdle with the current site is whether the school should face 107 Street or 104 Street. The division is saying that for safety reasons, fronting on 104 Street isn’t feasible because the school would be set back from the road and tucked in behind the current division offices and the arena – lack of sight lines to the school pose a safety concern.
Meanwhile the town has suggested fronting on 107 Street is challenging because the increased traffic flows would require upgrading the intersection at 100 Avenue to a roundabout, which interim CAO Andy Isbister said could cost $4.5 million.
What is required at that intersection, and who would pay for it, is an ongoing topic of discussion at the provincial level. He said it would also be discussed at a coming meeting between provincial, town, and school board administration.
“We need answers from Alberta Transportation,” before a decision can be made there, Mayor Lisa Holmes said.
She also noted that while fall 2017 is when the current arena is projected to be torn down, she couldn’t say for sure that would happen because if a new council is elected in October 2017 municipal election, that plan could change.
All parties agreed it was unrealistic to expect a new school to be ready to go for fall 2017 regardless. In the meantime, Sturgeon School Division Supt. MichÄŤle Dick said she has begun the process of examining options for where to place junior high students in September 2017. Those options will be presented to the board by the end of June, this year, allowing consultations with parents to begin in September 2016.
“It’s prudent and it’s wise planning,” she said.
Isbister noted his understanding based on the meeting with the minister and discussions with his staff is that there would be a dozen portables available to create a temporary school until the new one is completed.
“I will make sure we find a suitable site for 10 to 12 portables,” he said.
Dick and several trustees said they had not heard that commitment from the minister, and Isbister replied it might have come from the minister’s staff in subsequent conversations.
Jeremy Nolais, Eggen’s chief of staff, confirmed by email that while there are nine modular classrooms coming to Morinville Public Elementary School in the fall of 2016, no commitment has yet been made with respect to 2017.
No firm timeline for the completion of the new school has been established. Eggen, however, has said it could take two and a half years from the time construction begins.
Another joint meeting between council and the school board has been tentatively scheduled for April, and it is expected to be open to the public.
