GRAVENHURST - Streamlining of council committees and meetings will be held over until October.
The major municipal procedure and structure policy that will see council trim back their regular monthly businesses and committee of the whole meeting schedule to just once a month was pulled off the table Sept. 18 for a few alterations.
Town clerk Candace Thwaites explained the major changes will see a single committee structure for council, rather than many smaller subcommittees. It will see council be able to move to one meeting a month for regular town business and the plan, once the policy comes into effect, will be to meet once every third Tuesday of the month at 2 p.m., rather than the current first and third Tuesdays at 3 p.m.
She said originally, October was to see the first of the new council meeting schedules, but that will now be delayed until at least November, if not until the start of December.
Thwaites said the goal for staff will be to release a draft meeting agenda for publication about two weeks prior to each meeting, with opportunity for alteration, depending on additions or removals.
Mayor Paisley Donaldson also wanted to alter the policy regarding deputations to council that would have limited presentations to only five minutes and the maximum number of deputations allowed in one meeting.
“If we are going to one meeting a month, I would say there is no limit on deputations, that we welcome everyone, and we give them their 10 minutes to speak,” Donaldson said.
“I think it’s important we give people a chance to speak to us,” Coun. Randy Jorgensen added in support of not limiting deputation numbers.
The final draft will be back to council during the Oct. 16 meeting.
“As long as we get it right, I don’t mind doing it (delaying the procedure policy decision),” the mayor added.