Discussions surrounding a petition to dissolve the Municipality of West-Interlake continue this week.

West-Interlake Council and the citizen's group who started the petition will meet with provincial officials, to discuss their next steps. Both parties are seeking the same result, but continue to disagree on the process to get there. They hopE to see the amalgamated municipality, which consists of the former RMs of Siglunes and Eriksdale, split up once again. While the citizen's group believes dissolution is the best way to achieve that, Council would rather see the borders returned without dissolution, or the former RM of Eriksdale annexed to another municipality.

A Municipal Board hearing was held in May to discuss the issue, but after three hours and no shortage of confusion, no solution was brought forward. Instead, the Board instructed both parties to meet with provincial officials, to help move the process along. Reeve Randy Helgason hopes this week's meeting will help clear up some of the issues.

"We weren't really sure what to expect at that hearing, or how to prepare for it. They didn't really want to hear any of the history for whatever reason. I'm just hoping to we can have a good discussion, for everybody to be up front and honest, their concerns can be aired, and some of council's concerns can be aired."

Helgason's biggest concern with the dissolution proposal is that it will leave the area as an unorganized territory, warning that could have significantly negative impacts on everything from roads to planning. That's why they created an annexation committee to investigate other options. Helgason says since that time, they've submitted a resolution for the province to simply return the municipalities' boundaries to where they were in 2015, with two RMs.

While those at the Municipal Board Hearing had suggested the meetings, it was anticipated they would see separate sessions for each of the groups. However, all three parties will be at the table this week and Helgason's hoping those meetings are productive.

"We're not too sure what to expect but I think everybody will be reasonable and I'm hoping everyone will be reasonable. We'll keep it low-key, and give everyone a good idea of what is going on, so it's clear in their minds."

Once this week's meeting has wrapped up, the Municipal Board will be able to reconvene the hearing in the near future. The week's meetings were a result of both sides not knowing what to expect at the previous hearing, where those on the Board repeatedly told those in attendance they didn't need to hear the history of the situation, even though that was the focus of many presentations.