The town's annexation of approximately 200 acres from Rocky View County (RVC) could be finalized as early as the spring of 2019.

Last night, council agreed to hold a nonstatutory public hearing on Oct. 9 that could lead to a formal annexation application to the provincial government by the end of October.

The annexation is not intended to accommodate growth and that has certainly made negotiations cordial between the two municipalities. Bringing the land into town corporate limits is strictly to deal with educational and recreational needs of the community and surrounding area as well as improving transportation corridors.

The largest parcel in question is the 158 acres purchased by Rocky View Schools (RVS) to secure a location for a future high school. They require only 25 to 30 acres of the land and are in talks with the town to purchase the surplus land. The town has been eyeing the property for its potential recreational value. It has long been discussed as a possible new home for the Cochrane and District Agricultural Society but there's also been interest expressed in developing other recreational infrastructure, including ball diamonds.

The town also wants to annex a 40-acre strip along the northern border of the community, immediately north of Sunset Ridge, to address access issues of the mushrooming subdivision. 

Should the agreement proceed, the town will be paying $80,000 to RVC to compensate for a loss in tax revenue over the next 10 years. Currently, the county collects $8,000 in taxes annually from the one privately owned property while the land owned by the school division isn't subject to taxation.

Drew Hyndman, Cochrane's senior manager of development services, estimates other costs related to finalizing the annexation will not surpass $20,000.

Whether it proceeds leans heavily upon approval of both Cochrane and Rocky View County but to this point, it's been smooth sailing.

In fact, Councillor Alex Reed, one of .town's representatives in the negotiations, says it has been a model of the spirit of cooperation and an example of the working relationship that has been established between the two municipalities

The county intends to also hold a nonstatutory public hearing and, like Cochrane's council, will make a formal decision afterward on whether to proceed. An agreement in principle between the two parties was finalized in May.