Mayor Harris: Council Responsibilities - Preeceville's Main Street with the Mayor Garth Harris for Feb 20th, 2020 8:35 am

Working Draft for:

Preeceville's Main Street with the Mayor Garth Harris for Feb 20th, 2020 8:35 am

With GX94's Craig Wallebeck > see him @ http://www.gx94radio.com/craig-Wallebeck

This week we focus on: Council Responsibilities

https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/municipal-administration/tools-guides-and-resources/council-responsibilities

February, 2015
(Fact Sheet 6.0)

Accepting elected office is one of the highest orders of public service. It offers the opportunity to significantly influence the quality of life in your community.

The Municipalities Act provides the basic legislative framework for Saskatchewan’s southern municipalities. Council members must know and comply with federal and provincial legislation, laws and codes. Council’s responsibility is to make decisions about municipal services, establish policies and provide direction for the operation of the municipality in a manner which encourages participation in the governance process. Councils have numerous powers, duties and responsibilities.

Council is legislatively responsible to ensure that:

a municipal office is named in Saskatchewan:

for Citizens to attend to make payments, receive information and report concerns;
for Council meetings (which are required to be held in an open and transparent manner where the public may be present to observe)

a qualified administrator is appointed for the municipality;
the municipality’s assessment is confirmed by SAMA each year;
all decisions are made by resolution or bylaw;
at least one council person or other person is designated to sign cheques. The administrator is required to be the other signatory unless the administrator has been authorized to delegate this duty to another employee;
a fidelity bond is obtained annually for the administrator and any other employee as required;
Workers’ Compensation coverage is obtained for workers, employees and labour contractors;
all meetings are held in public;
a quorum is required at all meetings;
a records retention schedule is established;
public notice is provided when a regular meeting date is changed;
public notice bylaw is adopted and public notice is provided prior to considering any of the following:

any report to close, lease or sell a municipal street or road;
any report to dispose of public land used for park purposes;
a petition for a public meeting with respect to a municipal restructuring, establishing an organized hamlet or incorporating a resort village or village;
any report to increase/decrease the number of councillors in a municipality;
the initial consideration to divide the municipality into wards;
the report completed by the wards commission with respect to the establishment of boundaries is completed and open for public inspection at the municipal office during normal business hours;
holding a public hearing and deciding a matter after a public hearing pursuant to this or any other Act;
borrowing money, lending money or guaranteeing the repayment of a loan;
establishing a purchasing policy;
selling or leasing land for less than fair market value and without a public offering;
selling or leasing mines and minerals owned by the municipality;
setting remuneration for members of council and for members of council committees and other bodies established by the council;
establishing a business improvement district;
prohibiting or limiting the operation of a business or class of business;
amending or repealing of referendum bylaws or resolutions;
holding a public meeting of the voters;
any report with respect to special taxes; and
using any excess revenue generated from special taxes.

an operating and capital budget is adopted each year prior to authorize the tax levy;
the municipality’s audited financial statement and the auditor’s report is submitted to the minister by July 1 of each year;
an auditor is appointed for the municipality and its controlled corporations;
a tax levy is authorized on all assessments of the municipality;
a prorated amount of moneys received from trailer or mobile home permit fees is paid to the school division in which the trailers or mobile homes are located;
streets and roads are kept in a reasonable state of repair;
a water rate policy is adopted by bylaw or resolution;
an emergency plan is adopted; and
a board of revision is appointed.

Your administrator will provide guidance and valuable information in this area. You may also wish to review the Municipal Council Member's Handbook.

https://pubsaskdev.blob.core.windows.net/pubsask-prod/95528/110331-Council-Members-Handbook.pdf

Congratulations! Your voters have put their trust in you to manage and make decisions that are in their best interests. You are now part of a team expected to make decisions that will affect all of the ratepayers objectively and fairly. It is very important that your ratepayers see you working as a team. Voters in your municipality very quickly recognize when there is dissention among members of council. When voters recognize council dissention, they lose confidence in council’s ability to manage the municipality. This guide tells you: • what to expect during your term of office; • council code of ethics; • information on your roles as councillor/mayor/reeve; • information on the roles of council; • information on the roles of administration; • conflict of interest; • information about various aspects of running your municipality; and • tips on making your term of office successful. Footnotes at the bottom of the pages of this handbook reference sections from the municipal acts and regulations. It is important that council understands and acts according to the legislated authorities given to municipalities. Choosing to act outside of jurisdiction is contrary to law and places the municipality at risk. Your administrator will help to inform you of legislated requirements, limitations and authorities. You may also call a municipal advisor to discuss technical questions regarding legislation at 306-787-2680. You will find the term “municipality” throughout this handbook. It means a town, village, resort village, city, rural municipality, northern town, northern village or northern hamlet.

Available on Saskatchewan.ca

You will find links to resources that are available online in this handbook.

Use the search engine on Saskatchewan.ca to find other resources about municipalities and related topics.

Disclaimer: This handbook is an overview of municipal administration for council members. It is not intended as a substitute for reading and understanding legislation. If in doubt, contact the Ministry of Government Relations at 306-787-2680 or seek the advice of a solicitor.

Duty to Respect Confidentiality As a council member, you may be privy to third-party or confidential information. You share the same responsibility to maintain the confidentiality surrounding the information that is required of any employee of the municipality.   It is important to keep confidential matters discussed in closed meeting sessions or confidential information of a private nature private until discussed at a public meeting. If confidential municipal information comes into your hands, a wise option may be to return the information to the municipal office to file it securely.

Fair Decision-Making Councillors must look after the interests of the entire municipality. If you are in a municipality that has wards or divisions, you will have to be careful not to place the interest of your ward or division above the interest of the whole municipality. Your effectiveness depends on providing input as a representative of an area while thinking and voting for needs of the whole municipality. The path to a good decision does not always follow a straight line. When making decisions: • respect other people’s opinions; • work together as a team; • seek out everyone’s opinions; • ensure you express your views during a debate; • insist a professional debate of important issues in a respectful setting; and • for complicated matters, call on experts. Council members should be courteous, timely, clear and direct in communicating with each other, with employees and with the public. This means that you: • take time to listen; • are approachable; • respect confidentiality; • are clear with people about what you can or cannot do; and • apologize if you make a mistake. As a council, you want the decisions to be fair. Council establishes municipal policies to: • ensure that its decisions are implemented consistently; • manage the expectations of citizens; • describe how municipal staff will handle daily operations; and • establish municipal jurisdiction. Council decisions impact citizens of a municipality directly, so it is important to hear from the public.
In making decisions, council may ask: • Are we hearing all sides of a question? • Is there someone who we are not hearing from who will be affected by the decision? • Was the public consulted or should it be? • Does council have all the relevant facts? • Are we basing our decision on fact and law or on feelings and opinions? • Can you explain your decision to the people affected by it? • Is the decision consistent with other decisions made in similar circumstances? • Is the decision consistent with the evidence considered? • Should a policy be established?

It is important to communicate council decisions with the public. Make sure you explain why you have made a decision. People will complain when they think they are treated unfairly. People who are heard and treated with respect are less likely to complain and more likely to accept a resolution or settlement that is not what they initially wanted.

All Members Must Vote Legislation requires every member of council, including the mayor or reeve, votes on every question.

If there is a tied vote, the motion is defeated. A passed motion must have consent from a majority of council.

You cannot abstain from voting unless you have a conflict of interest. If you abstain from voting for any other reason, legislation deems your vote as a vote in the negative.
It is important to make resolutions and vote on matters council debates, even if council chooses to do nothing, so that the public has a record that council has considered the topic.

Timely Start meetings on time. Few things can frustrate members more than waiting for members who are late.

Matters that Must Be Dealt with by Council
There are many things that council alone must deal with45 – you cannot delegate the decision to a committee or other body. Your administrator will advise you when council cannot delegate. Some decisions that council cannot delegate include: • adopting budgets; • borrowing money; • establishing a purchasing policy; • creating council committees and other bodies and define their functions; and • appointing, suspending or dismissing an administrator or a full-time municipal solicitor. Matters that Require Public Notice Before Being Dealt with by Council In some cases, council cannot consider an item at a meeting until the public has received notice.46 Your administrator will advise you when public notice is required according to your public notice bylaw. Choosing to debate and decide on a matter without providing appropriate public notice, when it is required, enables any voter to legally challenge the decision made. For example, public notice is required when council intends to discuss: • borrowing money; • establishing a purchasing policy; • leasing land for less than fair market value without a public offering;



45 section 127 The Municipalities Act, section 101 The Cities Act, subsection 119(2) The Northern Municipalities Act, 2010 46 subsection 128(1) The Municipalities Act, subsection 101(2) The Cities Act, subsection 146(1) The Northern Municipalities Act, 2010

• setting remuneration for council members; or • permanently closing a road.47

Personal Immunity/Liability As an elected member of council, you can be held legally liable for decisions to act or not to act. Council members make decisions at council meetings.
Individual council members, including mayors and reeves, have no authority to act on their own:
• If you decide to purchase a mower for the municipality without prior approval because you found one that was a “good deal”, you may find that you are responsible to pay the price of that mower out of your personal funds. • If your council has authorized the purchase of a piece of equipment and you decide to cancel the order for any reason, you may find that any order cancellation costs may be payable by you personally instead of by the municipality.
On the other hand, if you are aware of a dangerous situation on one of your roads and your council fails to take any action, it may find that the situation may cause a liability to the municipality; or if you as a councillor have noticed a dangerous situation and you fail to take the appropriate action by reporting it to administration, you may be personally held responsible for failing to report the danger.

Your municipality may wish to develop a policy about reporting situations that pose a potential risk. A written policy: • may protect council members from potential liabilities; and • will give staff direction informing them of council’s expectations when situations pose a risk to the municipality. Legislation protects you as a member of council, a member of a public utility board established by council, a member of a council controlled corporation or a municipal officer, volunteer or agent, but only when you are acting in good faith,

Events:

Bingo 606 Harvard Preeceville Air Cadets Squadron Sponsoring Committee BINGO. Every Thursday at Club 60. Doors open at 7pm, first game starts at 8pm.

Preeceville & District Lions Club Chase the Ace - Minimum Jack-Pot is now at a $7,437.00

Draws every Thursday night at the Curling Rink.

Watch for their Ad's. Follow the ACE on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PreecevilleChaseTheAce/

- Cross Country Ski Trails are open: Call Lou at 30547-2183 for more information.

- The Preeceville Walking Club is running at the Preeceville Community Legion Hall. They walk Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week from 9:00am till 10:00 am. The Program runs till the end of April each year. Cost is $20.00 and everyone is welcome. Contact Jackie at 306-547-2842 for further information.