Alix Mayor Arlene Nelson said dissolving the village is not the answer.
Nelson said council is happy to work with Alberta Municipal Affairs, which is validating a pair of petitions from Alix residents. One seeks an inquiry into town affairs and the other asks the province to look at dissolving the community and making it a hamlet in Lacombe County.
But the mayor doesn’t believe dissolution is the answer.
“We will lose services without any guarantee of lower taxes nor reduced water rates (the two main complaints in our community),” the mayor says in an email response to a request for comment.
Nelson also defends council’s track record. “Since this council has been elected to act in good faith for the benefit of the Village of Alix, we have done so.”
Council has asked those who collected the names for the petition to see the wording of the petitions twice, but still has not seen them, she says.
Alix residents behind the petitions say many are frustrated with the management of their village of 800.
Poor decisions by council have led to high taxes and an unfair burden on local ratepayers, said local business owner Malonie Grimard earlier this week.
Alberta Municipal Affairs staff are working to determine if the petitions are valid and will make a recommendation to the minister within the next three weeks.
Should an inquiry be ordered, it will likely be a lengthy process. Often these types of reviews take more than a year to complete with recommendations.