Ponoka Council to vote on new strategic plan

PONOKA -- The Town of Ponoka will be tabling its new strategic plan for approval on August 12th.

If given the green light, the new four-year municipal document will act as a guiding framework for future projects and priorities. It will also guide how the township plans, invests, and delivers local programs and services. At their recent meeting, Ponoka Council reviewed the draft strategic plan for 2026-2030 and provided feedback ahead of the final vote set to take place next month.

The process of drafting a new strategic plan for the municipality has been underway since early March, when council and senior administration participated in a facilitated strategic planning session led by Urban Systems Ltd. The purpose of the session was to identify council's priorities for the current term to guide future decision-making, budgeting, and organizational planning. 

"The discussions were centered on the community's future, the role of local government in an increasingly complex environment, and the difficult decisions that municipalities must make when balancing community expectations, available resources, infrastructure renewal, financial sustainability, and future growth," reads a report filed by Ponoka CAO Sandra Lund.

Lund adds that the result of those discussions gave way to the draft strategic plan, which she says reflects the strategic direction established collectively by council during the workshop. The plan contains four main pillars focused on creating a safe and connected community, a vibrant destination for recreation, culture, and nature, fiscal health and resilience, and collaborative governance.

"These focus areas recognize that municipal decisions are rarely made in isolation," reads Lund's report. "Council spent considerable time discussing the reality that every new initiative requires balancing competing priorities, available resources, organizational capacity, and long-term sustainability."

The draft strategic plan for 2026-2030 was initially provided to council in May to allow sufficient opportunity to review the document prior to its final vote at next month's meeting.