Following an in-camera session during its regular council meeting on April 8, Athabasca County council moved to remove Gary Buchanan as chief administrative officer (CAO). In a separate motion, director of corporate services Brian Pysyk was appointed interim CAO until a replacement could be found.
“Upon Mr. Buchanan’s recent departure, Athabasca County council wants to thank him for his five years of service to the county and its ratepayers,” Reeve Doris Splane said in an email statement.
Buchanan sat on several committees and commissions with the county including the recreation board, the airport committee, the Athabasca Regional Waste Management Commission and the Aspen Regional Water Services Commission.
According to Splane, these vacancies will be discussed at council’s next meeting.
Splane declined the Advocate’s initial request for comment on Buchanan’s contract and the amount of severance he would receive upon leaving the county.
Athabasca County is not the only local municipality to experience CAO change in recent weeks: Lac La Biche County CAO Roy Brideau was fired in February, and interim CAO Jeff Lawrence has announced he will step down April 22.
Council has approved the use of a new sign-in sheet for its meetings.
The sheet will supplement the minutes taken by the secretary and be signed by all those present at the meeting.
The motion states the sign-in sheet will be used at all meetings “where possible,” and Reeve Doris Splane hoped it could be used at all committee meetings.
“I think it should be a part of how we do business,” Splane told council. “It would make it a lot easier for those of us who have to check time sheets.”
The motion passed unanimously.
