On March 26, Sturgeon County Council sent a letter to Gibbons Town Council with questions about the town's proposed 2026 budget. In keeping with County council's commitment to transparency during the viability review, the County released a statment on March 27 outlining the contents of that letter.

Read the full statement here.

On March 6, the County formally responded to the Town’s February 10 requests (see below for context on these asks) via public statement.

At this time, the County also highlighted the various activities taken to date to support the Town of Gibbons since this matter first arose, including:

• Providing the Town with $415K through a cost-sharing agreement (part of a five-year contract commitment to the Town, valued in total at $2.1 million)
• Covering the cost and leading a legal review on the Town’s behalf to determine whether there are options to recover specific funds that could be recoupable and reduce the significant impact they have on Gibbons’ budget
• Assisted in some local service delivery when there was pressure on Town resources

The province made public presentations to both Sturgeon County and Town of Gibbons on March 10. This presentation provided details and insights in the overall Viability Review Process.

View this presentation to Sturgeon County Council here.

View this presentation to Town of Gibbons Council here (at approx. the 4-minute mark).

As the Viability Review Process was getting started, the Town of Gibbons presented to County Council on February 10, requesting Sturgeon County consider supporting the Town in three ways. View the Town’s presentation here.

• Taking over Gibbons’ Fire and Emergency services
• Taking over Gibbons’ Family and Community Support Services
• Provide the Town with an annual “Viability” transfer payment.

On February 10, at Sturgeon County’s Regular Council Meeting, Council approved two motions: one to formally confirm the County’s participation in the Viability Review, and another to re-prioritize work so that analysis of the known implications for the County, should a potential dissolution occur, can be completed. View the Council Report here.

The Minister of Municipal Affairs, Dan Williams, meet with both the Councils of the Town of Gibbons and Sturgeon County separately to discuss the expedited review process and answer questions on February 20. Discussion with the County included:

• The County’s work will include estimates of what things could look like if Gibbons becomes a hamlet. This will cover how programs and services would be provided, how local roads and buildings would be looked after, and how local costs and taxes might be determined. It will also look at if/how Town and County staff could come together, how technologies are integrated, what local governance and representation could look like, and other important details if dissolution were to occur.
• Acknowledgment of the County’s own financial realities and pressures to manage, and any potential change in municipal boundaries or responsibilities that would introduce additional risk to the County’s fiscal position and service delivery.