The town councils of Black Diamond and Turner Valley have reaffirmed their desire to amalgamate.

The previous councils had sent an application to Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIvor but he sent it back.

Black Diamond Mayor Brendan Kelly says McIvor wanted to "gauge the room" because new councils had been elected last October and he wanted to make sure they were still in favour of the two towns becoming one.

"It was the same vote as it was in the fall, 4-3 but still in favour, majority rules," Kelley says.

Kelly says there's still a lot of work ahead but he hopes they hear back from the minister before summer.

"This application is a piece of the puzzle, the minister and his team have a lot of work to do, there's no binder or textbook you can pull off the bookshelf and say, 'How to Amalgamate' and you go through parts A,B and C," he says. "Every community is unique and when you're taking two unique communities and trying to make them into one there's no absolute recipe for success."

He says they'll continue working with Turner Valley making sure things move in the right direction, aligning bylaws and making sure the fire department and peace officers are ready for the change, if it's approved.

Meantime, the ball's in the minister's court now.

"Does he want to continue with the timelines that we put in the application, which would be an election this fall, incorporation date January 1, 2023, or do we move those things around," he says.