Village of Strome residents to vote on the viability of their municipality

Residents of the village of Strome received letters this week, dated July 31, outlining the timeline for the village’s viability review, which was started by a request of Council in September 2014.

“On January 30, 2015 the Viability Review Team determined that the Village of Strome was trending towards non-viability,” said the letter.

A draft viability plan was presented to Strome Council at a special meeting held June 10, with 20 residents in attendance. There, Alberta Municipal Affairs Manager of Municipal Sustainability and Information, Kai So, and Municipal Sustainability Advisor, Ryan Edwards, presented the draft viability plan to Councillor Brian McGaffigan and Mayor Ron Williams. After some discussion between village residents and the Municipal Affairs representatives, McGaffigan made a statement thanking the Strome Viability Review Team, “for its thoughtful and well-documented report.”

He further proposed a resolution of Council, that based on the team’s findings, he recommended to the residents of Strome that dissolution would be in the best interest for the future of the village, which was carried unanimously.

According to the final plan, “Near the end of January 2015, after an in-depth analysis and consideration of Municipal operations, the Viability Review Team determined that the Village of Strome was trending towards non-viability.

“Aging infrastructre, limited non-residential tax base, anticipated reductions in government grants, and a lack of interest in local governance by residents, were cited as the major contributing factors.”

In March of 2015, following the ‘viability determination’ discussions between Council, administration, and Flagstaff County occurred in an effort to determine what could be done to either turn things towards the village remaining a viable municipality, or to becoming a hamlet within Flagstaff County.