ATHABASCA – Athabasca’s town council is making changes to the Council Procedural Bylaw.
Councillors unanimously voted to pass changes to the agenda section and the motion section at the latest council meeting on Aug. 12.
A discussion at the meeting was the agenda section which talks about the recommended order of business on the agenda. Councillors agreed to move the main reports topic before bylaws in the meeting agenda to cut down on the amount of time staff have to sit at the chambers.
“I think that’s a good idea. Although I know they enjoy our company,” said Mayor Rob Balay.
Coun. Edie Yuill asked if the council would consider having two-month rotation for Deputy Mayor instead of eight. That will be discussed, though, at the next organizational meeting.
The motion section was talked about as well. This segment outlines when council members are allowed to adjourn.
Coun. Yuill brought up a mistake in the section and wanted to confirm that adjournment may be made by any member except when the meeting is in closed session.
Coun. Darlene Reimer questioned whether or not, under the public submissions section, if council should add the word concerns in it. She also asked why section 8.5, which states no person in the public gallery during a meeting shall address the presiding officer, and must be recognized by the presiding officer before speaking, was removed.
“That pertained to the code of conduct and the way councillors are conducting themselves, so it had to be removed,” said Chief Administrative Officer Rachel Ramey.
Coun. Ida Edwards finally wanted to know the difference between tabling a motion and referring a motion. A tabling motion means that council is done discussing the motion and referring means that council is still debating on the motion.
