Rural municipalities adjust summer council schedules

By Stu Salkeld
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Your West Central Voice

Community members across the Your West Central Voice circulation area may have plenty of summer activities to choose from, but attending council meetings could be more difficult as several municipalities adjust or cancel meetings during the holiday season.

A number of municipalities reschedule or cancel meetings depending on the circumstances, including elected officials' or staff members' summer vacations.

In a July 10 phone interview with Your West Central Voice, Town of Oyen CAO Sacha Martens said the municipality cancelled its regular July council meeting because of the number of vacations scheduled.

Martens said it was not realistic to try to hold a meeting with so many people away.

The Town of Eston also adjusted its summer schedule. Instead of holding two July council meetings on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month, councillors agreed to hold a single meeting on July 14 because several staff members and councillors had summer plans.

Both the Town of Luseland and the RM of Mariposa rescheduled their July meetings. Luseland's meeting will be held Thursday, July 23, rather than on its usual date. Mariposa moved its regular council meeting to Friday, July 24, an unusual choice because municipalities rarely hold regular council meetings on Fridays. Again, councillor and staff vacations influenced the scheduling.

The Town of Burstall also pushed its July council meeting back to the fourth week of the month. Instead of its usual second Wednesday meeting, council will meet Tuesday, July 28.

The Town of Kindersley, however, sets its meeting schedule early in the year and generally follows it.

"As for cancelled meetings, our meetings are scheduled in Dec. (last year) or in Jan. of the current year by resolution," Communications Officer Anna Polsfut said in a July 15 email. "A resolution would have to be made to make changes to that schedule for a meeting to be cancelled due to a small agenda. Kindersley often has lots on the go, so council has scheduled two meetings each month throughout the summer."

Elsewhere, the Town of Stettler notified the public that its July 7 regular council meeting was cancelled. The Town of Drumheller, which typically holds three council meetings each month, including two regular meetings and one committee of the whole meeting, also cancelled its July committee meeting because of councillor and staff vacations.

Provincial legislation governs a municipal council's ability to cancel meetings, while each municipality's procedural bylaw may set additional requirements, including how the public must be notified of any cancellations.