Quick council meetings pegged to efficiencies
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Updated: August 19, 2009 11:06 AM
At just 12 minutes, the last municipal council meeting on Aug. 10 was one of the shortest on record and a far cry from the length common just a few years ago, when meetings routinely ran for three to four hours or longer. Municipal administrator Don DeGagne believes Mayor Janice Perrino has played a big role in the shorter meeting times.
“I think the chair has had a lot of influence there,” he said. “I think this council’s doing well on sticking with the topic.”
He explained that council is presented with detailed information before the meetings, which means questions can be answered before the public sessions in the evenings. Still, he said the Aug. 10 meeting was an anomaly. The meeting had just two resolutions and two bylaws on the agenda.
“It’s rare that they’re that short,” he said, but added that meetings should not run longer than one to one-and-a-half hours.
Summer meetings tend to be a little shorter than during the rest of the year, since councillors, staff members and others will take vacations during that time. DeGagne believes the recession is not playing a large role in the shorter meetings. Earlier this year, he said, municipal staff examined the agendas and noticed that while there may be some slowdown, it is not making much difference in the items being brought forward for council to consider.Two large developments, the Summerland Hills Golf Resort and the Wharton Street redevelopment, are both on hold at present.
“We’ve had a little bit less in terms of development processes,” he said, “but we provide the same services whether there’s a good economy or a bad economy.”
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