User:Hwy43/sandbox/Diamond Valley, Alberta

Diamond Valley will become a town effective January 1, 2023 in the Calgary Metropolitan Region of Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by Foothills County. It is at the intersection of Highway 22 (Cowboy Trail) and Highway 7. It will establish through the provincially approved amalgamation of the former towns of Black Diamond and Turner Valley.

History
Black Diamond and Turner Valley incorporated as villages on May 8, 1929 and February 23, 1930 respectively. After nearly 26 years as a village, Black Diamond incorporated as a town on January 1, 1956. Turner Valley incorporated as a town on September 1, 1977 after 47 years of village status.

The thought of amalgamating the towns of Black Diamond and Turner Valley first surfaced in the mid-1980s. Turner Valley withdrew from the discussions after Alberta Municipal Affairs completed a feasibility report on the amalgamation in 1986.

The possibility resurfaced in 2006 when the towns initiated discussions on a possible amalgamation of the two municipalities. The discussions culminated in a plebiscite held on October 15, 2007, concurrently with their municipal elections, in which the question asked of voters was "Do you support an amalgamation of the Town of Black Diamond and the Town of Turner Valley to form one municipality?" The results of the plebiscite were 66% of Turner Valley voters were in favour of amalgamation, while 71% of Black Diamond voters were against amalgamation.

A third amalgamation investigation began in early 2016 through a joint request of Black Diamond and Turner Valley for a provincial grant to undertake a feasibility study. Following negotiations and engagement, the two town councils decided to proceed with an amalgamation application in September 2021. The name of the amalgamated municipality was proposed to be the Town of Diamond Valley. Among over 200 name suggestions, Diamond Valley received the majority of responses in a survey of three shortlisted suggestions; the other two being Sheep River and Black Valley. The proposed effective date of the amalgamation was January 1, 2023. On May 25, 2022, the Government of Alberta approved the amalgamation application with the municipality name and effective date as originally proposed.

Demographics
The population of the amalgamated Town of Diamond Valley, according to the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, is 5,259. It has a land area of undefined km2.

Black Diamond In the 2016 Census of Population, the former Town of Black Diamond had a population of 2,700 living in 1,098 of its 1,108 total private dwellings, a NaN% change from its 2011 population of 2,373. With a land area of 3.84 km2, it had a population density of in 2016.

Turner Valley In the 2016 Census of Population, the former Town of Turner Valley had a population of 2,559 living in 1,019 of its 1,066 total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2011 population of 2,167. With a land area of 5.79 km2, it had a population density of in 2016.

Government
The Town of Diamond Valley will have a seven-person council comprising a mayor and six councillors all elected at-large. Its chief administrative officer (CAO) will be Shawn Patience, who is currently the CAO of the Town of Turner Valley.