Staff Report to Special Council: Proposed 2023 Regular Council Meeting Schedule

Staff Report to Special Council: Proposed 2023 Regular Council Meeting Schedule

DATE

Monday, November 21, 2022

DEPARTMENT

Administration

SUBJECT

Proposed 2023 Regular Council Meeting Schedule

BACKGROUND

All municipalities are required to provide notice at least once per year of the schedule of the date, time, and place of regular council meetings. This notice must be published in a local newspaper for two consecutive weeks.

Section 15 of Council Procedure Bylaw No. 1971, 2021 further specifies that the requirement for Council to give notice of the availability of the regular meeting schedule must be completed by the end of a calendar year.

The purpose of this report is to present Council with a proposed 2023 Regular Council meeting schedule. Should Council approve this meeting schedule, notices of the Regular Council meeting schedule will be placed in the Goldstream Gazette for two consecutive weeks before the end of December in accordance with the requirements set out above.

COMMENTARY

The proposed 2023 Regular Council meeting schedule is attached for approval. In accordance with section 8 and 9 of Council Procedure Bylaw No. 1971, 2021, Regular Council meetings are scheduled to take place at 5:30 pm. at Langford City Hall. As Council has expressed an interest in having a later start time to the meetings, this can be accomplished in the short term by the Mayor postponing the start time to 7:00 pm. Should the Mayor wish to make this change (until the Procedures Bylaw can be amended), staff recommends that the advertisements include a statement that the meeting time for all upcoming meetings is postponed to 7:00 pm.

While Council typically meets on the first and third Monday of each month, there are several exceptions through the year. Historically, there has been one meeting in January to account for the statutory holidays in December, and staff are proposing to hold the first meeting on January 16, 2023. This date allows the agenda to be completed by January 6 for approval and publication by the 11th. In July and August, Council has typically met only on the third Monday, and in December, Council has typically met on the first Monday. Where a Monday is a statutory holiday, the meeting moves to the next business day, usually the Tuesday.

In addition to the exceptions above, it is recommended that the September 18, 2023, Regular Council meeting be held on September 25, 2023 to allow Council to attend the Union of BC Municipalities annual conference taking place in Vancouver from September 18 to 22, 2023. Consequently, the October Regular Council meetings would be held on October 10 and 23, 2023.

Alternatively, Council could choose to hold Regular Council meetings on the first and third Mondays during these months, resulting on only one meeting in September.

It is also noted that Council has the ability to hold Special Council meetings on additional dates should the need arises.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

None.

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

In accordance with section 15 of Council Procedure Bylaw No. 1971, 2021 and the Community Charter, notice of the Regular Council meeting schedule must be placed in the newspaper for two consecutive weeks prior to the end of December 2022.

OPTIONS

Option 1
THAT Council approve the proposed 2023 Regular Council meeting as presented and direct staff to publish the notice with a note that all meeting start times are postponed to 7:00 pm.

OR Option 2
THAT Council approve the proposed 2023 Regular Council meeting schedule with the following changes:

SUBMITTED BY

Will Ying-udomrat, Manager of Legislative Services

Concurrence

• Donna Petrie, Senior Manager of Business Development and Events
• Matthew Baldwin, MCIP, RPP, Director of Planning and Subdivision
• Michelle Mahovlich, P. Eng, P. Geo, Director of Engineering and Public Works
• Michael Dillabaugh, CPA, CA, Director of Finance
• Marie Watmough, Deputy Director of Corporate Services
• Braden Hutchins, Director of Corporate Services
• Darren Kiedyk, Chief Administrative Officer