Rocky View County (RVC) council’s regular meeting Sept. 10 will be the first under the County’s new Procedure Bylaw, which council unanimously adopted July 23.
According to Grant Kaiser, executive director of Community and Business Connections, the new bylaw – which took effect Sept. 1 – includes three major changes that will impact the public. Most significant, he said, is changes to first reading of bylaws.
“Under RVC’s old system, first, second and third (final) readings for bylaws all happened at one council meeting,” he said. “Considerable time and money was spent by the County (and by applicants for planning matters) in preparing full reports, studies and other materials, no matter what the likelihood of success.”
With the new bylaw, Kaiser said, first reading essentially becomes “a screening process,” with the bylaw going before council with limited information.
“The goal is to simply determine whether or not an item has any merit,” he said.
If council believes a bylaw has no way of moving forward, it can be refused at first reading, ending the process. Conversely, Kaiser said, if councillors believe it has merit, they can approve first reading and set a public hearing date.
“This does not mean council approves of the bylaw, only that they believe it is worth a closer look with a full report and a public hearing,” he said.
If the item passes first reading, according to Kaiser, information is gathered, reports are prepared and the public is given the chance to give input. Come the public hearing, council receives that information and amends, delays, refuses or approves the bylaw.
“The new process is one followed by most Alberta municipalities,” he said. “It can save time and money for RVC and for applicants by separating first reading from the full-on public hearing process.”
When the bylaw was first presented in June, Municipal Clerk Charlotte Satink noted municipalities comparable to RVC – Strathmore, Strathcona County and Kneehill County – had adopted this process.
Kaiser said some items during the Sept. 10 meeting will follow the old process, as they were “in the pipeline” before the new bylaw took effect, but all new bylaws will follow the new procedure.
The process of recorded votes has also changed. Under the previous bylaw, every vote was recorded automatically, but this in no longer the case under the new bylaw.
RVC councillors can still request a recorded vote, he said – right up to immediately before the vote is taken – but the request must be made in advance of the vote.
“Under the Municipal Government Act, a council must speak with one voice so the direction for the municipality is clear,” Kaiser said. “What matters for good government is a council’s ultimate decision, not how individual councillors voted.”
Finally, he said, some changes have been made to how the public presents to council. Now, anyone claiming to represent a group must have specific permission from the group’s members to make statements, and there must be at least three group members.
Additionally, council will also no longer accept late written submissions for public hearings.
“Late written submissions are not available for the public to see, which works against transparency in the process,” Kaiser said. “Anyone who has missed a written submission deadline for a public hearing still has the option to attend the meeting and speak before council and the public."
The full bylaw is available at rockyview.ca
