MINTO – Following a notice of motion from Mayor Dave Turton, next year Minto council meetings have been changed to 3pm with one 7pm meeting held during February, April, June, October and December.
At the Oct. 15 meeting councillors debated whether to change the meeting times with concerns regarding working individuals and the public.
CAO Gregory Furtney presented council with information regarding the motion from a financial standpoint.
By changing times to mostly afternoon meetings the town on average would save between $8,500 and $9,000 in staff overtime costs.
He said he considered municipal staff, county staff, consultants and building and energy costs.
“I did pull some staff in the municipal office and there’s no objections to having an afternoon or daytime meeting,” added Furtney.
During public question period before the discussion began, a resident of Minto expressed their concerns.
Resident Roger Hnatiuk asked council if they were going to release a survey for the public to add their input on the matter.
With the answer being “no,” Hnatiuk replied, “You’re not really being fair to the taxpayers because some people have to work in the morning … so you’re cutting people out.”
“It’s not a situation where we’re trying to cut people out,” Turton explained.
Hnatiuk furthered his argument, stating, “We should have the say on it, we pay your wages. You work for us, we don’t work for you.”
Deputy mayor Jean Anderson shared her concerns on the matter as an individual who works outside of her council position.
“People can’t just take the afternoon off to come to a council meeting in today’s day and age in the workplace,” she stated.
The schedule change may also stop people from running for council, added Anderson.
“I’m one of those people who still works and we’re cognizant of trying to bring people onto council that are not all retired people,” she noted.
Councillor Ed Podniewicz echoed the deputy mayor’s concerns, stating the current meeting schedule already affects one day of work and he would now have to ask for two afternoons off.
Councillor Geoff Gunson brought forward the idea of having an evening meeting every two months.
After much discussion, council landed on a hybrid system, where it would host a 7pm meeting during specific months with the balance of meetings to be held at 3pm.
Councillor Judy Dirksen remained on the fence as she believes council already has a hybrid system, with one daytime meeting and one evening meeting each month.
Currently meetings are held twice a month on Tuesdays; the first meeting of the month is held at 3pm and the second is held at 7pm.
“If we’ve got something contentious that we have to deal with, we amend the meeting to have it at night,” added councillor Ron Elliott.
Council will have the choice to vote for a time change if a meeting requires it.
