Not long ago a visit from the Grey County warden to a local council meeting was the perfect opportunity for local councillors to air all their beefs about the county - but now, the times they are changing.

Grey County Warden Kevin Eccles and County CAO Gary Wood attended the regular meeting of Grey Highlands council Monday morning to update local councillors about the county's activities and initiatives.

The warden and CAO were met by a happy group of councillors at the meeting. The atmosphere at the meeting was light hearted and good-natured.

Warden Eccles has been the head of county council for the past six months.

"I've been living in the fast lane. I know what that means now," said Eccles, who thanked the county representatives from Grey Highlands for all their work on behalf of the county.

"I want to express my gratitude for the two individuals from Grey Highlands that sit on county council. Mayor Brian Mullin and Deputy Mayor Dave Fawcett are both tremendous assets," he said. Eccles told council the county budget is set and the tax increase for 2008 limited to 1.5 per cent. He said the county's streamlined budget process introduced a couple years ago has functioned very well.

He also pointed out that the provincial government has helped the county immensely.

"Hopefully the 1.5-per-cent budget has helped our lower tier municipalities with their budgets. This budget was allowed by some of the uploading the province has done," said Eccles, adding that he is impressed with the province's commitment to return future surpluses to municipal governments.

"There is some forward thinking there," he said.

Warden Eccles also told Grey Highlands council that the county is currently investigating what its role should be in economic development.

"There is a lot of buzz out there about economic development. If you ask one question you get about 13 different answers," he said. "There are a lot of players out there. The county is trying to tickle its feet in the water to determine when, where, how and if the county gets more involved," he said.

County council held a strategic planning session in The Blue Mountains at Mountain Springs Lodge on Friday and Saturday.

Warden Eccles said council discussed a number of issues including: moving to local dispatching for ambulance services, upgrading the human resources department to more aggressively retain staff in the face of tough competition, the shortage of low cost housing and consultation with the area's First Nation people.

County council also discussed Grey's role in waste management services. Waste management is a priority for some municipalities, but there continues to be considerable reluctance from a majority of county councillors to push the county into more active involvement in that area.

The governance structure of the county was also a topic at the meeting. Currently county council consists of the Mayors and Deputy Mayors of the nine member municipalities. The warden is elected to a one-year term. The county operation has continued to grow for the past decade and is now a $105 million operation with a work force of over 800 people.

County representatives have questioned if a one-year term for the warden is still appropriate in this reality. The loss of continuity in the warden's job with a change every 12 months has been cited as a reason to extend the warden's term.

"Should the warden be elected for four years? Should county councillors be elected at large? Those are questions that will go to the committee level and to staff," said Eccles.

Members of council were interested in the status of the Grier Creek project. Warden Eccles said it was full speed ahead on that job.

"I think we have most of the community on board. We've addressed the concerns," he said, adding that tender documents for the project have gone out and are expected back in by the end of May.

Grey Highlands Mayor Brian Mullin said his municipality would always look for opportunities to work with the county to benefit local ratepayers.

"There are many initiatives we'll co-ordinate with the county on," he said. "It certainly makes the dollars go farther when we can work together," he said.

The Municipality of Grey Highlands has a unique relationship with the county. Its municipal office is located in the Grey Gables Home for the Aged building. Grey Highlands is currently investigating the possibility of expanding its office space and will work with the county on that project.

After their presentation, both Wood and Eccles said the relationship the county has with its lower tier municipalities continues to get better every year.

"It's wonderful. I think it's all happened over the past six months," Eccles joked.

Wood said the improving relationship had a lot to do with keeping local municipalities informed.

"Communication is so important. We're certainly trying our best to communicate back and forth with our municipalities so we are all on the same page," he said.