Council Meeting Highlights - March 11, 2026

Committee of the Whole and Special Council Meeting

Meeting Date: Wednesday, March 11, 2026

In attendance:  Mayor Fule, Councillor Brown, Councillor Chisholm, Councillor Hyde, Councillor Langmaid, Councillor Wegener and Deputy Mayor Wiley

DELEGATIONS

2025-2026 RCMP Q3 Municipal Policing Report

• RCMP Staff Sergeant Wielgosz presented Council with the 2025-2026 RCMP Q3 Municipal Policing Report. This report highlights the activities within the RCMP detachment area from October 2025 to December 2025.

BUSINESS

Medical Services Update

• Healthcare falls under provincial authority. Alberta's medical system is experiencing long wait times and a physician shortage and the Town of Strathmore has been impacted by this reality. To minimize the impact on residents, the Town has been very active in its effort to attract new medical services to the Town. This includes lobbying the province for increased medical services and supports, as well as establishing new programs to attract primary care physicians to the community.
• The Physician Incentive Program and Physician Sponsorship Program have been successful in attracting five (5) new primary care physicians to the community. These were novel programs that were established with the understanding that the Town would need to revisit them and amend accordingly.
• Council asked Administration to return to a future Council meeting with a policy that merges the Town’s available grant funding for physicians under one umbrella.
• Council also requested that information on the development of a Task Force for Diagnostic Equipment be brought to a future meeting.

Council then went in camera for an annual Human Resources review.

SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING

During a recess of the Committee of the Whole, Council convened a Special Council Meeting.

In accordance with Section 194(4) of the Municipal Government Act, at least two thirds of Council agreed to a Special Council Meeting being held at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11, 2026 to discuss the following item:

2026 Capital Budget Amendment – Civic Centre Exterior Doors

• The Civic Centre doors were replaced with a new set of sliding doors, interior and exterior, in September 2019. The lifespan for these doors is approximately 500,000 opening and closing cycles. While the interior sliding doors have remained operational with little to no preventative maintenance, the exterior sliding door has required an increase in both preventative maintenance and maintenance calls for it to remain operational.
• With the recent cold, the Civic Centre exterior doors have been functioning intermittently, and at times not been operational. Accordingly, Administration has assigned staff to assist in granting users access to the building and have redirected users through the Civic Centre East Hall, when staff are unavailable.
• Administration presented Council with three options:
  • Replace the current sliding doors and infrastructure (operator/motor) Approximate cost of $30,000.
  • Replace the current sliding doors and infrastructure (operator/motor and renovate the vestibule to create a secondary entrance in the event the sliding doors become inoperable.) Approximate cost of $50,000.
  • Replace the current sliding doors with two swing doors, including a door for accessibility. Approximate cost of $70,000.
• Council adopted a 2026 Capital Budget amendment of $50,000, funded from the Financial Stabilization Reserve, for the renovation and replacement of the exterior Civic Centre doors.

*Council Highlights provide a brief review of the information given and discussions had at Strathmore Town Council Meetings. Council Highlights are not presented as official minutes of the meeting and do not include items discussed in a closed meeting.

Official meeting minutes and agendas can be accessed here.

Watch the full meeting here:

March 11, 2026 – Committee of the Whole

March 11, 2026 – Special Council Meeting

Watch all past streams here:  https://www.youtube.com/@TOStrathmore/streams