The town has presented a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Handi Bus Association. The previous MOU was signed in 2009.

The town and the association are now two separate entities that require an MOU for further operations. The town also contributes financially to the Strathmore Handi Bus Association.

The meeting revealed the handi bus makes most of their trips to and from Calgary. One issue was the removal of councillors from Wheatland County and Strathmore Town Council from the handi bus board.

Councillor Tari Cockx said, “That is my one problem with this I do believe that if we are going to give that kind of money that we should have a voting say on that board.”

Alice Booth and Florence Vander Velde were part of a delegation from the Handi Bus Society at the council meeting.

Booth explained at the meeting about a slight change in the voting of the board for the Handi Bus Society, that would effect their society status.

“What we found over the last four years that the counselors that were on both here and the county found themselves always feeling they were in a conflict of interest, and couldn't do the best job for the handi bus it seemed to be a huge problem over the last four years,” said Booth.

“Because we're now an operational board, we felt that we could accommodate them at the meeting and we would be doing the same thing, but they wouldn't have a vote because that's where the contention for the last number of years has been,” she said.

“Under the Societies Act, they were quite concerned because the handibus is the society and the society was not operating at the town was which is government.”

“The two officials were the president and the vice president, so we were in a quandary of losing our society, our casino, and our grants,” said Booth. “Because the government was going back looking at all the societies that called themselves societies, but were not really operating under the societies regulations.”

Councillor Denise Peterson noted that the town does have the ultimate control over the money that goes to the handi bus, while they don’t have a vote on the board. “it doesn't necessarily mean that they don’t have a voice,” she said.

Initially, the MOU read that in the first year the town pays $175,000, the second year the town pays $183,750 per year.

Booth told the council during the meeting that the handi bus agrees to four years at $175,000, for funding.

There was a motion to bring the issue back to September 15 Council meeting, as it seemed unclear the board makeup and concrete costs that will be associated to the town in the future.

The council voted 5-2 to bring the document back to the Council meeting. So far the document has not been reviewed by the town’s legal representative.

The handi-bus is an operational society, with its own board, and it is not run by the Town of Strathmore.