by Ashley Janes
Morinville Town Council finished their Oct. 28 regular meeting, their last until Nov. 25, with an organizational meeting. The annual meeting sorts out which committees and boards Council members will sit on, both individually and collectively.
Notable changes from the previous year are to Councillor Brennan Fitzgerald, who replaces Deputy Mayor Stephen Dafoe on the Municipal Planning Commission. Also, all members of Council are now on the Finance and Audit Committee instead of only five members, as was the case the previous two years.
Council approved three other standing committees that include all members: The Agricultural Pest Act Appeal Committee, Weed Control Act Appeal Committee, both of which received terms of reference at the Oct. 14 meeting, and the Emergency Management Committee.
Individual Councillors were also assigned to primary and alternate committees.
Councillors Brennan Fitzgerald and Gord Putnam will serve on the Assessment Review Board, looking at property assessment challenges. Councillors Nicole Boutestein and Brennan Fitzgerald will take a seat on the Municipal Planning Committee (MPC), hearing subdivision applications, and Councillors Rob Ladouceur and Barry Turner will serve on the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board, considering appeals to MPC decisions. Councillor Fitzgerald will also retain his seat on the Morinville Public Library Board.
The Capital Region Board will continue to be an important focus for the Town of Morinville, with Mayor Lisa Holmes as the Council appointee at the board table with Deputy Mayor Stephen Dafoe as her alternate. CRB Land Use and Planning will be attended by Councillor Barry Turner, Mayor Holmes as the alternate. The mayor will also be the lead on the Growth Plan Task Force, with Councillor Ladouceur as her alternate.
Various Councillors will follow the developments of CRB’s Regional Services, Economic Development, Affordable Housing, Transit, Governance, Advocacy, Land Use and Planning, Growth Plan, and Transportation/GIS committees and task forces.
In addition to in-house and Capital Region Board appointments, Council approved another eight committees and boards where Morinville has been requested.
Alberta Capital Region Wastewater Commission will have Mayor Holmes as the appointee, Councillor Ladouceur as the alternate. Edmonton Salutes Community will team Councillor Boutestein as the appointee, Councillor Turner as the alternate. The Morinville Economic Development Working Group will have Councillor Putnam as appointee, Mayor Holmes as alternate. Deputy Mayor Dafoe will continue to sit on the Northern Lights Library System, Councillor Boutestein will be the alternate. Regional Tourism Action Plan will have Councillor Turner as appointee, Councillor Fitzgerald as alternate. Councillor Putnam will remain Sturgeon Foundation member, Councillor Boutestein as alternate. Sturgeon Regional Economic Development Committee will have Councillor Putnam as the main, Councillor Ladouceur as alternate. Tawatinaw Community Futures will continue to have Deputy Mayor Dafoe, Councillor Fitzgerald as his alternate. Councillor FitzGerald will also sit on Sturgeon Watershed Alliance, with Councillor Turner as alternate.
Council Approves Committee Pay
After approving the long list of committee and board appointments, Council then approved how much they would get paid to sit on those committees.
Board and Committee honorariums range from $40 to $60 per meeting, and in some instances, Council’s per diem policy applies. That policy pays Councillors $100 for meetings less than four hours and $200 for meetings that are four hours or longer. Additionally, Councillors are paid 0.505 per kilometre where mileage applies.
It was approved in a 6-0 vote.
