Residents of the Village of Creelman have a tough decision to make, about whether their municipality should continue in its current status as a village, or dissolve and become a 鈥淪pecial Service Area鈥� under the RM of Fillmore.
This choice is being brought to the fore as many, or all, of the current five-member village council may not run for council in the municipal elections to be held in October. If there are not enough candidates to fill the five positions, or better, to have an election, then it is being proposed that the village go through the process to be brought under the RM of Fillmore.
This process may take some three months to go through, and village representatives would need to sit down and negotiate terms with the RM of Fillmore about what level of service the village wants to get from the RM.
The current council was acclaimed, which means four years ago for the municipal election, there were just enough people to fill the council seats, and as Mayor Pat Hume indicated at the village鈥檚 meeting they have had trouble keeping the fifth councillor鈥檚 seat filled.
There are pros and cons to this situation, some of which were discussed at the public meeting. Many long-time residents felt that the history of the village might be lost, and the connection to their past, not to mention their pride in their ongoing accomplishments as hosts of a popular annual dinner theatre and their summer attraction, the 鈥淏iggest Little Fair鈥�, a tradition going back over a century.
This is an issue that comes up for small communities as larger urban communities grow and rural ones get smaller. Farms have been getting larger as families sell out and move to towns and cities, which in turn leads to a declining population in the rural areas 鈥� and Creelman is no exception, with a population of around 115.
During the boom times of oil activity a few years ago, there were residents moving into all communities, even the smaller ones. With oil in decline, the growth will at the least be arrested, but it may well resume once the oil industry is able to rebound again. With this in mind, the village should keep in mind that they will likely have a demand again for houses.
Another alternative would be to reduce the size of council to a mayor and two councillors. In the end, the residents will have to determine if they want to stay as a village, and if so, step forward and take a turn on council. 鈥� Greg Nikkel
