Town council meeting briefs from Nov. 10

Posted on December 4, 2025 by Taber Times

By Cal Braid
Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The following are briefs from the Nov. 10 meeting of Taber town council.

Social media policy

In conjunction with the approval and pending implementation of the Town’s new communication plan led by manager Meghan Brennan. She asked council to approve the social media policies associated with the Town’s pages. The policies determine the rules of public engagement and internal usage at the Town.

 The issue of disabled comment sections came up and Coun. Wiebe asked if there was a timeline for turning the comments back on.

 Brennan replied, “Right now as it stands, the audit states that because resourcing is so strapped in communications that there is no possibility of being able to triage comments while doing the rest of the communications suite. We leave the policy as it is because it gives us the option to turn it back on in the future, which I look forward to.”

 She said it’s becoming more common for municipalities to turn off their comments due to “the incivility.” She added, “This was the case in our community. The mental health strain was real and it was detrimental. I don’t just say that on my own behalf, because this is the job that I took and I understand it. I saw the strain on the staff.”

 She said she made the decision to disable the comments, and did not make it lightly. She anticipates turning comments back on at some point with additional resources in place.

 Council approved both policies in their updated forms.

Personnel files policy

 Council approved a new personnel file access policy in response to recent changes to the Protection of Privacy Act (POPA) in Alberta. The Town identified the policy as important for good governance within the Town of Taber, as it “provides clarity as to how personal information for personnel is protected and who has access to the information,” the agenda said. A previous policy was not in place on the matter.

 The policy states, 3.1 “The HR Manager has full access to all personnel files, except where the CAO directs otherwise,” and 3.2 “The CAO has full access to all personnel files.”

 Coun. Sorensen was hesitant to endorse the policy on those two points given HR Manager Grace Noble’s further explanation of how files are differentiated. She said the CAO can access administrative personnel files but not medical files.

 Personnel files are defined as “A collection of documents and information relating to an employee’s employment with the Town of Taber, including but not limited to: Application materials; employment contracts; performance evaluations; disciplinary records; training records; salary and benefit information; and contact information.

 Medical records are separate from personnel files and are restricted to authorized personnel who require the information for legitimate business purposes (ie. benefit claims, managing disability accommodations, or complying with legal requirements.) Permission to view medical records must be granted by the HR Manager and be facilitated in a private setting.

 Mayor Prokop agreed with Sorensen’s hesitation to approve the policy. He questioned whether the policy should be subject to a legal review in addition to the review already undertaken by an HR consultant. Sorensen made a motion for council to request further information before receiving the policy.

 Coun. Sparks, on the other hand, found no problem with the fact that the CAO, as head of the organization, should have access to all files. Council voted in agreement with Sorensen and agreed to request more information before endorsing the policy.

Bleacher fee waived for LDS

 Administration received a letter of request from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which hosts an annual live nativity pageant that is open to the public and held at no cost to attendees. This year’s event has been relocated to the church location on 50 Ave. and organizers asked for the use of the recreation bleachers and a waiver on the $630 fee to rent five bleachers for two days. Council approved the request unanimously.