Wawa Municipal Council's a step closer to updating the municipality's procedural by-law.
Clerk Cathy Cyr discussed a revised by-law during last night's Corporate Planning Committee meeting, noting the current by-law is "outdated" as it was last reviewed in 2011 and it does not include changes made to Ontario's Municipal Act in 2017.
The proposed revision would bring in those changes - including setting Council's "inaugural meeting" as the first Monday after November 15th, rather than early December - but would maintain the current meeting schedule of the first and third Tuesday of the month, except for certain months.
It also requires at least 24 hours notice for a special meeting, which must be called for specific business - and no revisions could be made to that agenda after notice is given.
Under the updated by-law, Council members would be allowed to participate in meetings "electronically", though each member would be limited to four times per calendar year, and councillors attending electronically wouldn't count toward the required "quorum" for a meeting, so three members would still need to be there physically, with those wanting to attend electronically given approval on a "first come, first served" basis.
Councillors attending electronically would not be able to participate in a closed meeting.
The revised by-law also calls for Council to review it annually, though it includes a process for early review, too.
Plans are for the draft procedural by-law to be brought to Council for a vote during the next regular meeting, on December 10th.