It should come as no surprise that one of the items the brand-new Planning Committee dealt with at their first meeting Monday night was yet more committee changes at City Hall.
This time, the discussion revolved around plans to replace the current Parks, Recreation, Culture and Heritage committee with a brand-new Leisure Services Advisory Committee in the near future.
A draft mandate was presented Monday for the new advisory committee. According to its mission statement in that draft, its role is "to engage the community and its youth in an advisement role to enhance leisure service opportunities in the city of North Battleford," and "to administer grant applications from Saskatchewan Lotteries on behalf of the City of North Battleford."
A Planning Committee motion to recommend adoption of the draft mandate passed unanimously. That means it comes back to council next week for more discussion and adoption.
Leisure Services director Bill Samborski advised committee members about the composition of the new committee.
He indicated the committee will be similar to the existing Parks and Recreation Committee, in that there will be two councillors appointed by council, one of which is appointed as chair by the mayor.
There will also be between two and four members at large appointed by council. The main difference, however, is that an additional three youth representatives - one for each high school - would be appointed.
Samborski said the committee's role will be "focused on constant engagement," while "continuing to allocate the community grant funds."
There was a good deal of discussion at the meeting about who will serve on the new committee. Samborski told council he believes a public call for interest ought to be initiated.
Also discussed was whether the Leisure Services Committee should have responsibility for culture or heritage, or whether those will be responsibilities of the Planning Committee.
The Planning Committee has already taken on some parks and recreation functions as part of its role. That was evident earlier in the meeting, as Samborski presented a number of monthly reports showing attendance figures and revenues for the various recreational facilities in the city.
In the transition stage the Parks and Recreation Committee will continue to function for now, with Samborski suggesting the new Leisure Services committee starting fresh in the new year.
Earlier in the day, Samborski attended the regular monthly parks and recreation meeting held at the Don Ross Centre. There, existing committee members were made aware of some of the changes coming.
Current chair, Don Buglas, expressed support at the planning for the changes coming.
"What's put together here looks excellent," said Buglas, who particularly liked the youth representation component of it. "It's a really good move forward position."
