WHEREAS municipal districts and counties have entered into funding agreements with the Province of Alberta regarding the Government of Canada’s New Deal for Cities and Communities (New Deal) that allocates of a portion of federal fuel tax revenue toward addressing municipal infrastructure needs; AND WHEREAS all New Deal agreements require the development of an Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP) which will require expertise to prepare; AND WHEREAS such expertise might be more cost effectively developed if centralized with a common service provider;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties develop necessary expertise to assist its members in developing Integrated Community Sustainability Plans necessary pursuant to the Transfer of Federal Gas Tax Revenues: New Deal for Cities and Communities funding; AND FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties explore the possibility of working with the Alberta Urban Municipalities on this project.

Under the New Deal for Cities and Communities funding agreements from the federal government, Alberta municipalities are required to prepare Integrated Community Sustainability Plans (ICSP) in order to qualify for funding. Such plans differ from the requirements for funding contained in previous agreements and are expected to require new expertise in preparation. Rather than each municipality developing such expertise, the AAMD&C could save considerable time and money for its members by consolidating these efforts. Currently, the AAMDC is working with federal and provincial stakeholders, including the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, in developing an ICSP template that will guide municipalities in developing these plans. The AAMDC is working to ensure that rural issues are being addressed during these development stages. The template is expected to be released in early 2006.

The AAMDC released its ICSP Toolkit in March 2007 and conducted five regional training sessions. This Toolkit equips municipalities with the resources required to develop a long-range plan focusing on the ICSPs four dimensions of sustainability: environment, culture, social and economic. The toolkit program is available for downloading under Resources > Toolkits on the AAMDC website www.aamdc.com