Town residents provided opportunity to influence 2027 budget

Taber town council’s July 6 special meeting wrapped up in under 90 minutes, but only the first seven minutes or so were open to the public. Two agenda items were discussed during the brief open session.

Taber town council’s July 6 special meeting wrapped up in under 90 minutes, but only the first seven minutes or so were open to the public. Two agenda items were discussed during the brief open session. The first was a request from the Taber Golf Club for a letter of support from the Town for a grant application to update their clubhouse through the Build Community Strong Fund.

The provided sample letter began, “The Town of Taber recognizes the Taber Golf Club as an important community asset that contributes to the community’s recreational amenities, visitor experience, economy and overall quality of life. As a municipally-owned facility operated through a long-term lease agreement, the golf course and clubhouse support community events, tournaments, business gatherings, tourism activity, and recreational opportunities that benefit residents and visitors alike.” It also spoke to the role that high-quality recreational amenities play in attracting and retaining residents, supporting workforce recruitment, and enhancing the overall appeal of the community.

The clubhouse offers value as a hub for events and recreation, enabling it to “generate visitor traffic and contribute to local business activity,” the letter stated. Council agreed to endorse the letter which involved no financial obligation. The second agenda item addressed the 2027 Community Vibrancy Grants.

The budget committee plans to engage community organizations to present their three-year budgets for Budget 2027. The process aims to gather information from registered charities and organizations involved in arts, culture, heritage, social services, environment and community spirit. For the second straight meeting, Troy Shewchuk, the Town’s new full-time director of finance appeared to report his department’s plan.

As outlined in the agenda, eligible community organizations will be asked to apply over a four-week period and submit their applications to the Town by completing an online form. Applicants will need to show how they contribute to the social, cultural, economic, or educational well-being of the community. Details of the 2027 grant program will be available through the Town website and applicants will be invited to present their plans and funding requests to council in September.

Council accepted the report as information and agreed to a plan to inform community organizations about the grant process. Two other agenda items were discussed during roughly 80 minutes of a closed session, making the remainder of the meeting inaccessible to the public. Those were labeled as a 2025 Financial Audit Findings Report and 2025 Audited Financial Statements and were reviewed under a closed session “to prevent disclosure of consultations or deliberations involving officers or employees of the Town, in accordance with Section 29 (Advice from Officials) of the Access to Information Act.”

As part of the Town’s corporate services policy, the live streaming and recording of council meetings policy states in Section 2.6.1 that, “Resolutions stemming from Closed Session will be recorded (not livestreamed) once Council reconvenes into Open Session and will be made available on the Town’s channels within 48 hours following the Council meeting.” As of July 14, those resolutions had not been updated on the website. Minutes are included in the subsequent meeting agenda.