The Calgary Metropolitan Region Board (CMRB) recently held its organizational meeting and Airdrie was front and center with Mayor Peter Brown representing the city on the board.  

The Board is a regional planning organization that's mandated by the Province of Alberta and replaces the recently dissolved Calgary Regional Partnership which was a voluntary group.  The CMRB mandate is to ensure growth in the Calgary region is sustainable and coordinated and promotes the economic well being and competitiveness of the region.  The process will result in the drafting of land use and intermunicipal servicing plans for the region.

The board consists of seven urban municipalities, including Airdrie, and three rural municipalities which include Rocky View County.  Brown was pleased with the first meeting of the group.  

"I would say the first meeting went well.  We had a good discussion.  There wasn't a lot of meat on the table just yet but it was a good initial discussion on doing things right the first time and making sure that we're not duplicating work that's already being done and spending time and resources on that.  In my mind, it was a good first step and a good first meeting."

The Board created three working committees during the meeting to support the regional planning process: the Land Use Committee, the Intermunicipal Servicing Committee, and the Governance Committee.  Brown volunteered to serve on all three of them.  Each of those committees will play an integral role in ensuring that the Board delivers on its mandate before the January 1st, 2021 deadline.

Brown says the unprecedented growth of the region has led to some conflicts between municipalities.

"I think what happened is, rather than resolve through conflict, that we properly plan it out to begin with.  I would argue that everyone's on board that, doing it right the first time is the best, most appropriate, fiscally responsible, environmentally friendly exercise you can do.   We've got all the experts at the table."

Brown is excited that the Board is in place to provide direction on sustainable growth for the area. 

"Over the next 75 years we're looking at 2.7 million people migrating to this area and that's a significant stressor on all of the aspects of our communities.  I'm really excited and I like all of the people on the board.  They all have varying skill sets.  Some of them are brand new to municipal government and others have been there for a while, like myself, so I'm looking forward to the process.  I think when you talk about leadership and you see the background of a guy like (Interim Board Chair) Chris Sheard, he's pointing us in the right direction and I really feel like it's going to amount to something very special in the coming number of years."

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