Springfield redraws ward boundaries

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This article was published 15/02/2021 (1566 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Fewer council seats will be up for grabs when voters in the RM of Springfield head to the polls next fall.

Council unanimously passed a new ward boundary bylaw last week that will take effect for the October 2022 municipal election.

It divides the municipality into four wards instead of five and corrects population imbalances that predate the 2018 election, which proceeded under outdated boundaries because the previous council couldn’t agree on how to redraw them.

Rural Municipality of Springfield
The RM of Springfield’s new ward boundary map, which takes effect for the October 2022 election, reduces the number of wards to four from five. Each will be represented by one member of council. The mayor remains elected at-large.
Rural Municipality of Springfield The RM of Springfield’s new ward boundary map, which takes effect for the October 2022 election, reduces the number of wards to four from five. Each will be represented by one member of council. The mayor remains elected at-large.

This time around, the revision process remained controversial, though the dissent came from the gallery, not from the council table.

In a delegation preceding the vote, Oakbank resident Janet Nylen told council their consultation process, which consisted of two online surveys, was inadequate and needlessly rushed.

“I am clearly in favour of changing the current ward boundaries,” Nylen said, but argued council should have given residents the opportunity to provide feedback on various four-ward configurations.

Instead, a committee, comprised of members of council and administration, arrived at a preferred four-ward configuration, which council then adopted.

“I’m very concerned with the current proposal and would need more information to think that this is the best option for Springfield for the next election,” Nylen said.

She said residents deserve more insight into the committee’s methodology, because ward boundary changes are based on a variety of factors, from population projections to geography to history to minority representation.

Nylen noted municipalities have until April 2022 to revise their ward boundaries, leaving plenty of time for more consultation. She asked council to delay third reading of the bylaw, which was introduced on Dec. 15 of last year.

“There is no urgency to passing this bylaw at this meeting,” Nylen said. “Why not hold a review on the ward boundary bylaw and hear from the community on that?”

Nylen reminded council that a 2018 municipal board order stressed the importance of a transparent public engagement process and proactive communication throughout the revision process.

Mayor Tiffany Fell, who was not on the committee, defended council’s efforts at public consultation and said the committee did “a great job.”

“We have gone out to the public multiple times, made statements that have been in the media, have been on our website” Fell said. “I believe the process we went to was very, very transparent and clear with the public.”

Coun. Val Ralke, who sat on the committee, said members benefitted from the analysis of a consultant who overlaid census and assessment data on a municipal map. In the end, the committee considered multiple four-ward configurations and recommended the one that “made the most sense for us,” Ralke said.

Coun. Glen Fuhl noted several ward boundary scenarios were presented to the municipal board back in 2018.

“This process has been extremely transparent,” Fell reiterated as she called for the vote. “Of course, the residents across Springfield all have different opinions on what they would like to see for wards, but in the end we can only end up with one system.”

The new boundaries establish three smaller wards on the municipality’s more densely populated western end. An expansive fourth ward contains Anola and the predominantly rural eastern portion of the RM, including the hamlets of Glass, Vivian, and Nourse.

Ward 1 contains Dugald, Deacon’s Corner, and Prairie Grove.

Oakbank, the RM’s largest community, is divided in half. Residents living east of Provincial Road 206 are in Ward 1, while residents west of the highway fall into Ward 2.

The northerly Ward 3 includes Hazelridge, Cooks Creek, and Melrose.

Springfield recorded 15,342 residents in the 2016 census.

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