Council Notes
From the regular meeting of Monday, May 30, 2016
Deputy Mayor Tara McMillan opened council by congratulating the 2016 DVSS grad class. She also congratulated the Legion's 60th anniversary this past weekend.
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Landfill Operations Manager Tammi Nygaard reported on the Spring Cleanup program from two weeks ago. She said they saw a slight decrease in waste collected, with an increase in waste hauled by members of the public, while only reporting three minor issues with waste pile collections. Nygaard said she would like to see increased education of the program to the public in following years. Councillor Jay Garbutt asked about issues with scavenging, with Nygaard replying that scavenging is actually positive because waste is reused, as long as it’s done before town crews arrive for collection.
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Director of Infrastructure Services Allan Kendrick made a clarification on a Request for Decision made at the last regular council, in a tender awarded for the Street Improvement Program. The document was missing information that the price of the tender had excluded GST.
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Council unanimously approved a decision to sign a contract to place the weekly town page in inSide Drumheller, at an annual rate of $29,886 for 2016, with 2 per cent increase in 2017 and 1 per cent in 2018. Currently, the Municipal Government Act requires municipalities to advertise regarding borrowing bylaws, notice of public hearings to be either published once a week for two weeks or be mailed to every residence in the area, however, amendments proposed in Bill 20, or the Municipal Government Amendment Act, 2015, states this information may be published on a municipalities website. Bill 20 is not expected to come into effect until spring 2017. Corporate Services gave administration direction to begin enhancing the town website to allow for this accommodation.
Councillor Tom Zariski said he doesn't agree with moving towards purely using the website, as others, like himself, look to the paper for the information, while also feeling many prefer print format. Councillor Jay Garbutt said that focusing on inSide with its strong circulation allows the town's messages to be spread better. Garbutt also said that despite the fact the town publishes increasingly more online, the ease of use isn't always the best, especially for some residents. Garbutt said the town had budgeted significantly more in their 2016 plan than the cost of the contract.
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Director of Corporate Services Barb Miller provided a Municipal Government Act Amendments Review to council, based on information she gathered at a recent conference of the Society of Local Government Managers. Minister of Municipal Affairs Danielle Larivee will be touring the province in June to seek feedback from municipalities on the amendments, which were released May 31. Councillors Garbutt and Sharel Shoff criticized the province for requesting feedback after amendments have already been proposed, but Dir. Miller said the purpose was to allow municipalities to provide feedback on the changes before they go to the legislature.
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Deputy Mayor McMillan requested to be appointed to both the Drumheller Community Learning Society Board and the Campus Alberta Central Steering Committee, based on the recommendations of others, she said. Councillor Shoff said the appointments should have been discussed with council beforehand. Councillor Garbutt agreed, saying there should have been information included in the meeting package on the nature of the appointment, requirements, the organizations' description, and responsibilities. Councillor Zariski said he was unsure of the relationship of these boards with the town, adding other councillors serving on boards do so with organizations financially tied to the town. The item was tabled for another meeting for further information and discussion.