Members of Sundre council who sit on the planning committee to develop an Intermunicipal Collaboration Framework (ICF) with Mountain View County were asked to consider and select a meeting date from a couple of proposed options.
Chief administrative officer Linda Nelson sought direction from council during the April 23 meeting whether to meet with county counterparts on either the morning of May 8 or May 10 or the afternoon of May 14.
“These will be half-day meetings,” said Nelson.
The idea is to start with one meeting, and from there the committee could set a followup date for the next, she said.
Mayor Terry Leslie as well as councillors Richard Warnock and Paul Isaac are on the committee.
Although the mayor and Warnock said their schedules were flexible enough to accommodate any of the options presented, Coun. Paul Isaac expressed concerns about the absence of opportunities offered for an evening meeting.
“It’s very difficult because I have a job,” said Isaac.
“It’s unfortunate that they don’t seem to think that those that are on council that have a job matter. And it’s unfortunate that the rest of my colleagues here don’t seem to support me…what I mean by that is no one here has said, ‘Let’s help Paul get to the meeting.’”
Although the councillor expressed a desire to remain involved, his inability to attend daytime meetings prompted him to volunteer to step back from the ICF planning committee, and Isaac suggested that Deputy Mayor Cheri Funke take his place instead.
The mayor acknowledged the difficulty that elected officials with full-time jobs have in accommodating daytime meetings.
“You bring a legitimate point for us to consider,” Leslie said to Isaac.
However, the mayor added he had expressed a willingness to meet in the evening.
“There is an attempt by those of us on council to try and make those things work,” he said, asking administration whether county officials had been asked about the possibility of scheduling an evening or late afternoon meeting.
“I don’t want anybody to feel like there isn’t support on council for the fact that there are full-time jobs.”
Nelson said no evening dates had been discussed with county counterparts, but that the question certainly could be brought up.
However, Isaac said county officials have previously expressed a preference for daytime meetings, and added the ICF process should not be delayed any further.
“Rather than prolong it, I think it’s important to move forward. That’s more important for our town than to try and get me in a meeting,” said Isaac, wondering whether Funke was agreeable to his suggestion, which she did not oppose.
“I’m fine to withdraw my name from the committee, and recommend Deputy Mayor Councillor Funke to attend and take my place permanently,” said Isaac, tabling a motion to that effect.
Warnock supported the motion. However, he said he was not speaking in favour of daytime meetings but rather in favour of moving the ICF process forward.
“We know that there’s funding issues for the town. It’s very important that we don’t let this drag out another month or two or three,” said Warnock.
No one on council was opposed, and Isaac’s motion carried unanimously.
