A comprehensive, chronological, digital database of every bylaw ever passed by the Town of Sundre is being compiled.
Following prior direction from council, administration has been working to create a file managing system for all of the municipality’s bylaws, said Linda Nelson, chief administrative officer.
"We have undertaken a review of all of the bylaws of the Town of Sundre dating back to Thursday, February 23, 1950, which is when the very first bylaw was adopted,” said Nelson during the Feb. 26 meeting.
To date, each bylaw has been identified and chronologically listed as well as scanned and stored on a server under numerous categories such as, for example, debenture, land use, mill rate, and animal control bylaws, she said.
"They were then separated into four distinct groups — bylaws for archive, land use bylaws for archive, bylaws requiring repeal, and bylaws requiring updates.”
Some no-longer current bylaws that should never be rescinded, such as previously approved mill rates from past years, should be archived into the municipality’s permanent historical records, she said.
"So each archived bylaw will be listed and stored on the server and in a hard copy in a binder. The contents records page will be updated on a regular basis to ensure that our record keeping is accurate and up to date. Each time a new bylaw in the archive category is complete, it will automatically be transferred to the binder and recorded.”
Additionally, staff will keep a master index of all bylaws that will contain information on the category of each bylaw, where it is stored on both the server as well as in the binder, and its status. Since the municipality was incorporated in the early 1950s, many of the early bylaws have become redundant with the passage of time, she said.
"So this exercise was to review the bylaws, categorize the bylaws, and begin the process of archiving those that are considered anachronistic, redundant, ineffective, or that simply no longer have any purpose,” she told council.
"There is no absolute requirement to repeal or archive outdated bylaws, but the exercise is very useful and it’s a great strategic plan in helping to determine the town’s full range of regulatory and legislative frameworks, and also to ensure they are kept in the permanent record.”
The undertaking has proven to be an extremely valuable endeavour, and once finished will bring the municipality completely up to date on bylaws and regulations, she said.
"A really fantastic and insightful project — I learned a lot about the Town of Sundre and its history.”
Throughout the coming months, administration will be presenting additional bylaws and bring forward recommendations. The first steps of the review have come along really well, and the effort remains ongoing, she said, later adding that the first draft of the master list is so far about 50 pages long.
"We have spent a considerable amount of time on the project.”
Although no motion was required regarding the archived bylaws, the administrator requested that council receive the report and attached schedule for information.
"I like that on that first page, I wasn’t born for the first almost half of that page,” mused Mayor Terry Leslie, conjuring a few chuckles from his council colleagues.
"What I found going through, it was really interesting to see the times and how much money was spent for paving in 1980 or so; the different projects that there were for water and wastewater systems and upgrades. It is a very interesting piece of reading, and putting the numbers together and the dollars together, it should assist with future planning.”
Council proceeded to carry a motion to approve the report for information.
