New year, new beginnings… for Tiny Township council meeting starting times in February of 2025.
Although council had thoroughly discussed how deputations would be managed in March of last year, further changes to the township’s procedure bylaw and meeting times were considered by a majority on council.
Discussions continued at the recent committee of the whole meeting around proposed amendments to the township’s procedure bylaw, namely the shift to a 2 p.m. start time from the current 5:30 p.m. allocation, as well as rearranging how deputations will be addressed.
Red-line revisions were presented to council in anticipation of passing the bylaw on January 29, with other time changes listed for closed council sessions and public meetings. Also included under decorum was a proposed citizen conduct section which would become available on the township website if approved.
Current deputations are held near the beginning of the regular meeting 5:30 p.m. start time, with scheduled deputations following those; committee of the whole meetings occur once regular meetings conclude.
Coun. Steffen Walma began the conversation by offering that deputations be moved to the end of the committee of the whole meeting, usually hours after the initial start time.
“(If moved), those concerned citizens would have had a chance to see what the discussion is and provide their input for council,” said Walma. “And then there is still that three-week waiting period for council to deliberate on those inputs from those open deputation processes.”
Deputy Mayor Sean Miskimins supported the proposal.
“It also gives them a chance to consider whether they wish to do a deputation,” he said. “Maybe the experts haven’t had a chance to speak yet; and I’m finding people are jumping the gun, and we’re kind of letting the cat out of the bag sometimes before we get to that topic.
Miskimins added: “It’s one thing reading words on a page when we get the agendas in advance, but it’s another thing to hear the context that goes along with that.”
Mayor Dave Evans noted that the current start time of regular meetings allowed for fairly regular accessibility, but the fluctuating unknown of the end for committee of the whole meetings could be a problem.
“I like the accessibility perspective of it; I like the chance for people to gain some additional information before making their decision,” Evans said. “The downside is that… these meetings are by no means regular in terms of timing.”
While Coun. Kelly Helowka supported having deputations remain in their current orientation for the upcoming timeframe, Dave Brunelle suggested a split of deputations at the beginning of regular meetings, but open deputations for the end of the committee of the whole.
“I don’t think there’d be a problem if people are willing to wait to be part of the full procedure of meetings,” said Brunelle, “and want to listen to the experts because they are not quite sure what they were going to say at the open deputation. Perhaps their decision will be swayed from hearing additional information, which would be a good thing, to get as much information before you can do a deputation.
The purpose of the procedure bylaw amendment, as noted by staff, was to have the evening’s committee of the whole approve the bylaw with amendments and suggestions to staff to return with further red-line revisions for council’s potential ratification at the January 29 meeting; the motion was carried.
The procedure bylaw amendments report can be viewed on the agenda page on the Township of Tiny website.
Archives of council meetings are available to view on the Township’s YouTube channel.
