Ma-Me-O Beach residents vote to remain summer village instead of joining Wetaskiwin County

Ma-Me-O Beach, Alberta.

People from Ma-Me-O Beach have voted to keep their summer village status and not let Wetaskiwin County take over operations. — “I’m quite certain the county could manage us as well as any other hamlet that they’ve got in their group,” said Ma-Me-O Beach Mayor Christine Holmes on Monday.

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“But I think what’s special about Ma-Me-O and where out rate pairs are coming from in many ways, is we’re a huge tourist destination.”

On Friday, the community voted 256 in favour of remaining a village with 46 opposed. The population of the village can vary but there are 280 lots with full-time residents ranging from 60 to 80 people, Holmes said.

The vote follows a viability report from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs after a failed waste water project left the village $5.5 million dollars in debt in 2021.

Holmes says the village is in an active lawsuit, hoping to recoup some funds for people who paid a special tax of $19,500 to settle the debt.

“We did make a commitment as council to get those funds back to the ratepayers, if successful, and if we became part of the county, would those funds go directly back to the ratepayers? I don’t know,” Holmes explained.

She says she has no doubt Wetaskiwin County would be able to manage Ma-Me-O Beach, but joining it would mean the funds may not all go directly back to ratepayers.

The deadline to pay the debt is Sept. 30 but has already been paid off. The village has been debt free since January, Holmes said.

“To have a deadline that was so aggressive and to have the majority of your people hit that deadline was unbelievably moving, and signaled to me that people were ready to commit and move forward.”