The Town of Nipawin’s restructuring continues, with council planning to rejig its standing committees and how long deputy mayors remain on duty.
The proposed replacement to the town’s procedures bylaw proposes to reduce the number of standing committees from seven to four.
“It becomes a little onerous on the different council members’ time to be attending all of these meetings, so we thought it might be an opportunity to,” said Barry Elliott, the town’s administrator, “rejig them, reduce the number and consolidate some of their scope so there is less meetings to attend.”
He added that some of the meetings might be longer as a result, but it’s something council wants to try.
The protective services, economic development, and admin and finance committees will remain pretty much the same. The operations committee will take over the duties of the works and utilities, parks and recreation, culture and health, and housing committees.
The tenure of the deputy mayor will also be longer. Instead of changing every couple of months, the deputy mayor will be in place for a year.
“Some members of council aren’t terribly comfortable with filling the role of acting mayor when needed,” Elliott said. “The other reason – and the more prevalent reason, I believe – is for a level of consistency.”
The administrator said with the constant changing of the deputy mayor, it takes times to get them up to speed on certain discussions when they have to take their mayor’s place. With a year-long tenure, it’s possible to keep the deputy mayor updated on those discussions.
The procedures bylaw also formalizes rules that allow council members to participate electronically if necessary.
The first reading of the bylaw was passed at the June 26 council meeting. The final two readings – and a schedule that states who’s going to be deputy mayor for which year – will be passed at a future council meeting.
