The Municipal Board has decided to take a step forward with the proposal to dissolve the Municipality of West-Interlake. Reeve Randy Helgason says they received notification a public hearing would be held on the matter, but a date has yet to be set. Under the Municipal Act, the board must hold a hearing if either the board is satisfied there's a general agreement, but an objection is filed, or if the board doesn't believe there's general agreement.

Helgason notes anyone who could possibly be affected by the dissolution can attend the public hearing, and he's hoping more information on the actual impact of the proposal can be discussed. While 721 West-Interlake residents had signed the petition, Helgason believes many may not have been aware of the consequences of dissolving a municipality.

"As far as numbers on the petition, I have a little bit of an issue with that. I know, especially some of the older folks, were under the impression if dissolution would occur each municipality would go back to the way it was previous to amalgamation, but that's not the case."

Helgason notes dissolving the municipality would lead to West-Interlake becoming unorganized territory, without a municipal government in place. He feels that if all were aware of that, many wouldn't have signed the petition.

"I think if it was fully explained to them, they might not have signed it or been in favour of it. However, obviously if the Municipal Board is having a public hearing there's some concern. This petition strictly deals with dissolving the municipality."

Realizing many in Ward 1 (the former RM of Eriksdale) were unhappy with the amalgamation, council has started to pursue alternatives. They've put an annexation committee in place, in an effort to amalgamate Ward 1 with one of the neighbouring municipalities. However, Helgason notes there hasn't been a positive response from the surrounding municipalities.