Handibus and town reach MoU

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Mayor Pat Fule has been granted authorization by Strathmore Town Council to execute the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Strathmore Handibus Association. 

The vote was made during the March 23 regular council meeting, following the presentation of an amended agreement proposal by the Handibus Association.

Town of Strathmore Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Kevin Scoble detailed the revisions made to the document to council.

“Following the Strathmore Handibus Association’s presentation of the MoU with the Town on March 2, administration completed an internal review of it, solicited comments from external legal counsel and met with representatives of the Handibus board to discuss proposed changes,” said Scoble.

Among the changes presented was the incorporation of a defined maximum amount of annual funding that would be allowed under the agreement, being $175,000 annually. 

A potential annual increase in funding will be the lesser of either the Calgary consumer price index, or the council approved tax increase for the year. 

This is intended to reflect the currently high inflation and the uncertainty of inflation in the future with the current macroeconomic and global events.

Council had also requested a date for the submission of the Handibus Association’s annual audited financial statements.

The Handibus Association has agreed to submit said documents to the Town no later than May 31 each year and expects to submit them well before that date in future years.

Based on advice from external legal review, the clause for having a council member be a voting member of the Handibus board has been removed, as per administration’s recommendation.

Fule inquired why it was administration’s recommendation that council may not want to appoint a member to the board.

“By being a director of this organization or sitting on the board as a voting member, individual council members could incur personal liability,” said Scoble. “From a governance perspective, this is perhaps more of an operational board, more than a governance board, like the housing body, for example.”

Councilor Denise Peterson motioned for council to authorize the Mayor and CEO to execute the MoU as presented and the motion was carried.

Negotiations between the Town and the Handibus Association for stabilized financial support have been ongoing since October 2021.