Chestermere Utilities Inc. (CUI) presented Chestermere City Council with a cleaned version of their updated corporate bylaws for city council, as the shareholder, to approve.
Council, which had tabled the decision at the Dec. 4 meeting so that typographical errors in the document could be fixed, approved the bylaw update at the Dec. 18 council meeting.
With the approval, CUIs internal bylaws have been brought into alignment with the Unanimous Shareholder Agreement that was approved by council this past May.
While the bylaw was passed, Council chose to again table a decision on appointing members of council to the CUI Rate Application committee.
Before council makes a decision on this they want to meet with the CUI Board and directed city administration to schedule a meeting in the new year.
City Supportive of new AltaLink Tower
After hearing a presentation from both city staff and AltaLink at the Dec. 18 meeting, City council have asked administration to draft and send a letter to the relevant federal agencies in support for AltaLink’s proposed Telecommunications Tower at its substation in the new Webster Business Park.
The proposed tower will be for a tower between 20 and 30 metres in height that provides remote telecommunication control to AltaLink of their substation in the business park.
Changes coming to meetings in 2018
When Chestermere City Council returns from the Christmas break this January there’ll be some changes to the way things are done.
First and foremost, in an effort to improve the accessibility of the meetings for residents, all city council meetings will be starting at 3 p.m. going forward.
In response to a request from council, staff presented options to change when the agenda for council meetings is released.
Currently, the agenda is released on the Friday prior to the Monday City Council meeting.
At the Dec. 18 Council Meeting, city council approved a change to have the agenda release day changed to the Thursday prior to a council meeting.
With the decision, there will also be a three-month trial period for staff to adjust to the new requirements before council will have to make a change to the procedural bylaw to make the change permanent.
Council made the change to provide both themselves and the public more time to read the agenda and have time to fully research and understand it and have time to prepare relevant questions in advance of the council meeting.
“Many of our residents work during the week and I think it probably is nicer for them to have the weekend to look at it,” said Councillor Cathy Burness.
With the change, there will be some disruption to staff’s work load however the city’s Legislative Coordinator Jillian Borsuk said they have a plan in place that will minimize the disruption of making this change.
Council endorses rotary club signs
City council has endorsed the Chestermere Rotary Club’s plan to apply for permits for road signs to be put up at three main entrances to the city.
This is the first time a service club in Chestermere has requested to put up signs. As such, along with the endorsement of the club’s intention, council has also directed staff to review the city’s current policy on applications for putting up signs on city property and to look into a more efficient process to handle future requests of this nature.
