Diamond Valley amalgamation largely lacked plan: report

The Town of Diamond Valley's amalgamation, including setbacks and shortcomings during the process, were analyzed in a report presented to council on Aug. 21.

The report by chief administrative officer Adam Davey highlights the strengths and weaknesses of Diamond Valley's ongoing amalgamation process while outlining a hypothetical ideal amalgamation plan. 

The report, written from the perspective of senior administration, is primarily viewed through an operational lens —considering only the administrative side of amalgamation rather than a political or community-centred perspective — and provides practical applications for future Town of Diamond Valley use while highlighting lessons learned for other municipalities considering amalgamation.

"Although the report may appear critical of both decision making and operational gaps leading up to amalgamation and ongoing through the post amalgamation process, the intent is to use this as a learning opportunity to course adjust for future long-term sustainment and success for the Town of Diamond Valley," reads the report.

The report, which acknowledges that amalgamation is an incredibly rare occurrence and as such was not easy to plan in hindsight, indicates there was no formalized plan or planning procedure in place during the process.

"Although the decision to amalgamate was significant, the planning process of the ‘how to’ was of equal importance. Unfortunately, the planning aspect appears to have been largely missing," reads the report.

Davey, who has been CAO since March of this year and is the fourth person to hold the title since amalgamation at the beginning of 2023, indicated that high staff turnover and the lack of a plan were among the two largest issues faced by the newly-created Town of Diamond Valley during the initial transition period. 

The report adds that of the six Town of Diamond Valley department heads consulted for the report, half have less than a year of service and subsequently were not involved with the early stages of the amalgamation process and are not intimately familiar with the history of Diamond Valley, Black Diamond or Turner Valley. The report indicates this led to a more unbiased and neutral perspective.

"It really goes without saying, I think, that [amalgamation] is probably the most significant decision that [Black Diamond and Turner Valley] have probably made within the last generation or more," said Davey during the council meeting.

While the road to amalgamation was rockier than it could have been, the process is still ongoing, with changes still being made to fully merge the communities of Black Diamond and Turner Valley. With current staffing and resources, the Town's post-amalgamation process will likely last until 2027, indicates the report.

"We are partway through the journey," said Davey. "I can appreciate staff and council maybe having some fatigue moving forward, but just keep the chins up because we've still got a few more years to go until we get to this new operating environment."

The report indicates that in a best-case scenario, the amalgamation process would take five or so years to complete.

Mayor Barry Crane, who indicated that he was pleased with the report, noted it highlighted short-term and long-term advantages of amalgamation from an administrative perspective.

"It's a long-term impact that we get to have through amalgamation," he said. "Fortunately there are many residents who understand that, and other residents want to know what the immediate wins are, and we do have immediate wins."

According to the report, short-term benefits of amalgamation include increased efficiency with seven members of council rather than 14, improved peer support among Town staff and modernization efforts, including more advanced websites and online government services.

In terms of long-term goals, the amalgamation will lead to the Town being more competitive for future grants and exerting more influence on senior governments, while better preparing for anticipated growth.

"Moving forward into the amalgamation, the planning for the future was always one of the key points of making sure that we were ready for the growth that was going to come, and I think the timing is just bizarre that we see such interest in our community at this time," said Crane.

Crane added that he would like to see another report in the next few years once the amalgamation process nears conclusion.

The full Town of Diamond Valley post-amalgamation report is available here.