It was the first meeting of 2023 and members of Grey Highlands council couldn’t wait to introduce changes to the business of town hall.
At the meeting on Jan. 18, members of council introduced a total of seven notices of motion. The actual resolutions will come forward at council’s next meeting for consideration.
Deputy Mayor Dane Nielsen said he would bring forward a resolution asking council for permission for him to be appointed to the Community Schools Alliance. Nielsen said the organization has had some resignations and he was approached about joining.
Coun. Dan Wickens signalled his intent to introduce a resolution that would allow Sunday hunting in Grey Highlands. Wickens said other municipalities allow Sunday hunting and he had been approached by a local resident about the possibility.
Coun. Paul Allen informed his colleagues that he had three notices of motion he would be introducing.
One concerns the timing of implementation of a scale system to have the environmental impacts of a project included in every staff report coming to council. The second would amend the municipality’s fees and charges bylaw to introduce a fee to be charged, for staff time, when individuals approach the municipality about purchasing municipal property. The third, would also involve amending the fees and charges bylaw to introduce a new fee for staff time when individuals make repeated inquiries to the planning department about planning files/matters.
Allen said the proposed fee would not apply to one-off phone calls from individuals to ask a question about a planning file. Instead he was thinking about the instances of repeated calls to planning staff.
“There should come a point where there is a fee,” he said, noting that he would consult with staff members on his resolutions before introducing them.
Mayor Paul McQueen also announced he would introduce two motions. One would grant permission for members of council and/or staff to attend the Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference that is being held in Toronto in May. McQueen said the conference would be an additional event over and above the normal conference budget, but added that council had a reserve to cover the costs.
The mayor also said he would bring forward a resolution to form a municipal pre-consultation committee. McQueen said the committee would consist of the mayor, deputy mayor and planning chair and would be the place for those who wish to discuss ideas with council to come.
The mayor said he would work with the clerk’s department on the wording for the resolutions.
