Niagara-on-the-Lake councillors and staff are considering several “substantive” changes to town’s procedural bylaw, a set of rules and regulations related to how meetings are conducted at town hall.
In a draft bylaw, there are about 30 revisions to the policy, many having to do with changes to current wording, such as renaming the “consent agenda” to “recommendations reports” and “information package” to “information reports.”
It also proposes changing “pecuniary interest” to “conflict of interest.”
Other tweaks include holding behind-closed-doors matters at the start of meetings, among several other housekeeping items included on a list in Tuesday’s committee-of–the-whole meeting agenda.
The report ended up being deferred until the next committee meeting, following a number of questions raised by local politicians.
One item brought up by Coun. Sandra O’Connor was related to jurisdiction and whether the town can delve into matters of upper levels of government. She asked if more information could be provided on that relationship, saying she agrees with the town dealing with items such as healthcare, a provincial matter, and that this is fair game because it is an issue “within the interests of the people of Niagara-on-the-Lake.”
Clerk Grant Bivol said this wording is in the new procedural bylaw to deal with issues beyond the province, such as the Ukraine-Russia War, a matter over which the town has no jurisdiction.
Other “international conflicts” are not a matter to be dealt with through recommendations by council, said Bivol, adding it’s important to discuss things “within the realm” of the town.
The potential of more appearances from Regional Coun. Andrea Kaiser is something that could be added to meeting agendas more often, a point raised by Coun. Wendy Cheropita.
She said it’s not necessary to have her provide updates on regional issues on a regular basis, but rather when there are important matters to be shared.
Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa, also a regional councillor, said he supports pursuing more regular updates from the region, noting he often requests that the clerk’s department include memos about major regional issues on agendas.
“If staff have any more info on how that can be improved, I’m open to figuring that out,” said Zalepa.
Committee members also asked staff for more information on the length of time allotted to delegates and presenters.
Currently, presentations are limited to five minutes and delegations 10 minutes, but that is reduced to five minutes when there are three or more speakers addressing the same issue.
No decision on the changes was made on Tuesday and a report from staff is expected in the near future.