MD of Willow Creek Coun. John Kroetsch shows off the Granum amalgamation fifth anniversary cake at the Jan. 29 meeting.
MICKEY DUMONT
THE MACLEOD GAZETTE
LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE
The majority of residents believed five years ago it would benefit Granum to be part of a larger political entity, overwhelmingly voting to merge with the MD of Willow Creek.
The new hamlet has not looked back on that decision.
Granum, a Latin word for grain, first saw families settle there in the late 1800s.
The 2016 national census pegged the Town of Granum’s population at 406, 594 citizens short of the official number to hold town status under the Municipal Government Act.
As of midnight on Feb. 1, 2020 the town of Granum, was dissolved in favour of becoming a hamlet in the MD of Willow Creek.
“We welcomed them into our MD and it (amalgamation) has been really successful,” Reeve Maryanne Sandberg, said during council’s Jan. 29 meeting.
“Hopefully this is an example of how consolidations elsewhere can work well. That’s how successful it’s been,” Sandberg added. “It’s hard to believe it’s been five years.”
The reeve and council were quick to applaud administrations in both the MD of Willow Creek and Granum for the successful transition.
“I mean, there has been little glitches here and there, but nothing that we haven’t been able to work out.”
Following the next council meeting on Feb. 12, councillors will attend a Coffee with Councillors informal get together in Stavely from 6-8 p.m.
It is the first of four similar meetings council has planned.
