ELORA – In an effort to allow more time for public input, Centre Wellington council voted on Nov. 30 to cancel the public meeting slated for Dec. 14 for discussion of the township’s proposed procedural bylaw.
Five delegations registered to speak at that meeting will be informed it’s a no-go for now.
Council decided at its Oct. 26 meeting to strike an ad hoc committee to go through the proposed bylaw and comments received from the community and councillors.
The bylaw addresses the nuts-and-bolts of council and committee meetings, including when council agendas and staff reports should be circulated and how the public can seek to address council.
Councillor Kirk McElwain chairs the ad hoc committee. Councillor Neil Dunsmore and Mayor Kelly Linton are also on the committee, along with senior staff.
The committee met on Nov. 16 and quickly reached an impasse.
“We realized we had a great divide in the community and on council. Trust was lost on both sides,” Dunsmore said at Monday’s council meeting.
“If staff recommended we could not do something [in the procedural bylaw] for legal reasons, it would be shot down.”
It was Dunsmore’s idea to hire a subject expert to lead a public education session, explain the legal obligations that must be followed by the township clerk, and point out the parts of the existing procedural bylaw that are up for debate.
So, the ad hoc committee presented a motion to council:
“That the council of the township of Centre Wellington host a public meeting and workshop with a subject matter expert on the development of a procedure bylaw; and that the revised draft bylaw be referred back to the ad hoc committee for consideration.”
The committee proposed that the subject expert make the presentation on Dec. 14 and that registered delegations could also speak at that meeting.
The matter would then go back to the committee and, after gathering more public input, staff would bring a revised draft bylaw back to council in February.
Many councillors felt that timeline was rushed and that the public sessions should be held in the evening, so more citizens could participate.
“I support having a third party subject expert,” said councillor Ian MacRae.
“I am aware there’s distrust in the community. My chief concern is giving the public adequate time to respond.”
Councillors Steven Van Leeuwen and Stephen Kitras both thought having a neutral third party lead the session was a good idea.
But councillor Bob Foster, who has voiced concerns in the past about hiring consultants, did not want to spend money this time either.
“It’s a pattern that troubles me,” he said. “Our own staff should do the meeting. I watched the ad hoc committee meeting and they threw in the towel halfway through.”
“Our staff presented their option and council didn’t approve it,” Linton said.
“A number of suggestions and comments we received from the public – some were not legal, and some were not best practice.”
Foster wanted the education meeting to be pushed back to early January, but Linton pointed out council and staff will be tied up with budget meetings.
When council circled back to vote on the motion, it was defeated in a 4-3 vote with Foster, McElwain, MacRae and Kitras opposed and Linton, Van Leeuwen and Dunsmore in favour.
Dunsmore then put forward a motion to defer the procedural bylaw to February, which passed.
“So, we will cancel the public meeting Dec. 14 and the clerk will inform the five delegations,” Linton said.
