Notice to Update Council Procedure Bylaw (2021)

In accordance with Section 124(3) of the Community Charter, notice is hereby given that the Municipal Council of the City of Grand Forks intends to consider substituting “Council Procedure Bylaw No. 1946, 2013” with “Council Procedure Bylaw No. 2084, 2022”.

In general terms, the proposed procedure bylaw will change as follows:

  • Changes to the section covering the conduct of Electronic Meetings to incorporate the recent changes made to the Community Charter (Bill 26) to allow electronic participation by Council Members at any meeting type with the Mayor’s approval.
  • Due to the change in General Voting Day:
    • The date specified for an inaugural meeting of Council has been amended to account for the change of general election dates.
    • Modify the deadline for designation of Acting Mayor to be set annually in October rather than November due to the change of date for the inaugural meeting.
  • Modify the selection of meeting dates, to be determined annually by Council resolution rather than being on fixed dates, allowing flexibility to schedule around events and holidays.
  • Modify meeting times to reflect the current practice of holding Public Hearings, and Committee, Regular, and In-Camera meetings sequentially rather than some in the morning and others in the evening.
  • Remove the section regarding the Annual Meeting as this is mandated in the Community Charter and is not necessary within the procedure bylaw.
  • Adds an opportunity for the public to provide feedback on Committee-of-the-Whole agenda items prior to the items being debated by Council.
  • Adds a standing invitation for the Area “D” Regional District director to participate at Committee-of-the-Whole meetings.
  • Adjust the Order of Business for meetings so that the sequence of events for Committee-of-the-Whole meetings matches the order of Regular Meetings.
  • Changes to clarify the process for submitting and scheduling petitions and delegations.
  • Adds a procedure for “Notice of Motion” to describe the process by which a Council Member may introduce new business.
  • Modify the procedure for Reconsideration of Decisions of Council to allow Councillors to initiate reconsideration, where the current bylaw only permits the Mayor to call for reconsideration.
    • Also clarifies when a decision may or may not be reconsidered.
  • The Oath of Office is now attached as a schedule of the bylaw and includes additions that the elected official will abide by statues, bylaws, and policies which govern the City, and will follow the Council Code of Conduct.
  • Housekeeping changes and general reformatting and organization to remove redundancies in the bylaw and update references to related provincial legislation.

 

A copy of the draft “Council Procedure Bylaw No. 2084” may be found here (Bylaw 2084 – Procedure Bylaw DRAFT) or may be viewed in-person during regular office hours at Grand Forks City Hall, 7217-4th Street.
The online bylaw library contains the current Procedure Bylaw No. 1946.