Rocky View County (RVC) administration received direction from council at the Feb. 22 meeting to prepare a Terms of Reference by March 22 for a new public presentation committee.
Throughout the year, council receives various requests for public presentations, which are currently accommodated during council meetings. Administration noted they have received three requests already this year, compared to two last year.
Caitlyn Anderson, from RVC’s legislative and intergovernmental services, said the current requests have already been scheduled for future council meetings, but can still be bumped along in case of arising council priorities.
When speaking in favour of creating a public presentation committee, Deputy Mayor Crystal Kissel reasoned she often receives requests from developers who she suggests should present to council. In response, developers usually tell her the wait to present to council is too long and that once prepared, their presentation can be bumped by other council priorities.
Kissel said meetings for a specific public presentation committee could be scheduled on demand and don’t require a regular meeting.
“We might find that if we actually have a platform for them, that they will book that, but council doesn’t seem to be the platform they’re really looking for because of the timeline and the commitment,” Kissel said.
She pointed out that presenting to council provides a learning opportunity for younger groups as well.
According to administration, public presentations in the past included topics and groups such as economic development projects, residents’ concerns, development proposals, community projects, not-for-profit groups, and tourism agencies.
Mayor Don Kochan and Coun. Samanntha Wright noted they have both received development requests and that these groups would prefer a more informal presentation setting than council meetings. Wright added that if council tasks administration with creating this new committee, that it should be well advertised.
Couns. Kevin Hanson and Sunny Samra agreed, saying the new committee would require proper advertising, otherwise nobody would utilize the new presentation platform.
Administration noted they can come up with ways to promote the idea of presenting to the committee of council in order to increase engagement.
The only councillor who voted against the creation of the Terms of Reference was Coun. Greg Boehlke, who said he had not received any development requests, despite his division being in a robust area for development and that there seems to be no increase in presentation requests yet.
“With the volume of requests that we’re seeing, we can easily accommodate this with an item on council meetings,” Boehlke said.
Hanson pointed out that it was difficult for groups to gather since 2020 and that without COVID-related health restrictions, there is a possibility that council could see an increase in these requests in the coming months.
RVC had several committees of council that accommodated public presentation requests in the past, including an infrastructure operations committee, a public services committee, the policy and priorities committee, and the governance and priorities committee. Administration explained that these previous committees with similar functions allowed for council to hear from groups in a less formal setting and with more discussion.
The governance and priorities committee came to an end in February 2020, due to the limited number of public presentations which could be accommodated during council meetings.
The draft Terms of Reference for the new committee will include the proposed frequency of meetings, presentation requirements for residents, community groups, and other organizations, and roles and powers of the committee, according to administration.
