Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
In 1978, the new Planning Act changed both the boundaries [of the previous Medicine Hat Regional Planning Commission] and the name once again to the Southeast Alberta Regional Planning Commission. Several planners and other support staff were employed by SEARPC. By the late 1970s it became mandatory for those communities receiving assistance to pay for the services [such as subdivision approval and advice for developers and communities on land-use issues] through a tax levy into a provincial fund. In addition to Medicine Hat, the following towns, villages and rural areas received planning assistance: Bassano, Bow Island, Brooks, Burdett, Cassils, Cypress Irrigation District, Duchess, Dunmore, Elkwater, Etzikom, Foremost, Forty Mile, Gem, Hilda, Irvine, Legend, Manyberries, Nemiskam, Newell, Orion, Patricia, Ranier, Rolling Hills, Rosemary, Scandia, Schuler, Seven Persons, Skiff, Suffield, Tilley, Walsh, Whitla and Winnifred. At the peak of its operations in 1979, there were more than 30 employees working for the Commission. Shortly thereafter, in the early 1980s, the department was downsized to about half of its previous size and continued at that level until 1994. At this time, the Commissions were terminated by the Alberta government and each of the municipalities had to make their own provisions for securing planning advice. It was moved by the Executive Committee on October 3, 1994 that the administration files of the SEARPC be placed in the Archives at the former Medicine Hat Museum and Art Gallery (now Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre). The Commission further moved that the SEARPC be dissolved as of 12:00 noon on October 16, 1995.