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Athabasca town council reinforced their decision to ask for a municipal corporate review from Municipal Affairs with a pair of votes on the subject at their meeting last Tuesday.
Council splits many of their controversial decisions four to three, and that was the result of the two votes at the meeting.
At the council meeting on June 5, four council members voted to bring in Municipal Affairs. With councillor Tim Verhaeghe away and Paula Evans calling in to vote, it passed four to two.
At last Tuesday’s town council meeting Tim Verhaeghe made a motion to rescind the motion to bring in Municipal Affairs. He also made a motion to hold a special meeting to further discuss Municipal Affairs conducting a municipal corporate review.
Both motions were defeated four to three with Tim Verhaeghe, Richard Verhaeghe and Colleen Powell voting for the motions, while Mayor Roger Morrill, Paula Evans, Lionel Cherniwchan and George Hawryluk voted to defeat the motions.
“I think perhaps a special council meeting could be called to discuss why we think we need a corporate review, and also to discuss the possibility of a better way to achieve this result,” Tim Verhaeghe said.
Powell had a few things to say before voting.
“I have been thinking about this,” she said. “A municipal corporate review is like a financial audit, except it covers all aspects of the operation of an organization. I think what we should be doing is dealing with where the problem starts, and I think that’s around this table.”
Powell stated that a special meeting would be a good place to start,
“If we’re looking at doing something serious to address concerns, we may want to call in a mediator,” she suggested.
“Let’s sit and have a real talk about this, and not have a four or five-minute discussion around a table when we are trying to get through 18 more issues on the agenda.”
Powell stated she had been in contact with Municipal Affairs for further information about a municipal corporate review.
“They like to do inter-municipal rather than intra-municipal disputes,” she explained. “They have a roster of mediators, if we want to go down that road.”
Mayor Roger Morrill asked for a recorded vote on the two motions.
Wendy McGrath from Municipal Affairs said they have been in contact with the Town regarding an MCR. When asked if the report will be made public, McGrath said that is up to the council.
“There are no legislative requirements,” she said. “However, once the council accepts the report in a public council meeting setting, then the report could be public.”
The review will take one week to gather information, and will look through the operations of the town before forming a recommendation.
