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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2016-01-28, Page 11THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2016. PAGE 11. NH considers removing public forum from agendas By Denny Scott The Citizen North Huron Township is considering significant changes to its procedural bylaw based in part on recommendations from the Ontario Ombudsman's office. Among the changes are the removal of the public forum portion of council's meetings and recording, in some manner, in -camera sessions in the event meetings are ever challenged. The bylaw includes instructions for how council should operate, how individual councillors should behave and how meetings should be held. Chief Administrative Officer Sharon Chambers presented a draft procedural bylaw during council's Jan. 19 meeting that included 33 changes to the document, some minor while others, such as the public forum section, represent significant changes to the document. Council accepted the report and draft document for future action and discussed some of the changes. Councillor Bill Knott started the discussion saying that he would like to see at least one council per year held in each of the East Wawanosh and Blyth Wards. "We have done that before," he said. "We need to represent the wards and have people involved." Knott also mentioned that he had seen reports indicating that closed meetings should be recorded and kept by the municipality's clerk in the event there is an investigation. He proposed a change to that effect. Chambers, however, said she had not seen any information regarding audio and video recording but has seen references to detailed note - keeping. "That bears further investigation," she said. Councillor Brock Vodden stated he had an issue with a proposed change to Section 8.3 which outlines the role of council. The proposed change would require council to contact staff prior to a meeting if they have technical questions about a particular issue. "To say we can't bring up what matters seems heavy-handed," he said. Chambers explained the intent is that it allows staff to have technical information on hand for the questions, not to stifle council's right to questions. "If something occurs throughout a meeting, council is welcome to bring it up," she said. Vodden also requested an additional change that would remove a religious ceremony from Section 5 of the bylaw, which stipulates how meetings are handled. "Section 5.2 part D talks about a Service of Invocation performed by clergy to be chosen by the Reeve [during the first meeting of a new session of council]," Vodden explained. "I feel that violates our rights." Chambers explained the clause is typical in procedural bylaws, but council could amend it. "My view is to remove it all together," Vodden said later in the discussion. "In view of the fact that we are serving a diverse public with all sorts of religious affiliations and non -affiliations, by always bringing in a certain element we are discriminating." Vodden compared having a clergy present to bless a council to the fact that religion was removed from the opening exercises in public schools in the past. "It's inappropriate in 2016 to have that in our procedures," he said. Vodden's motion to have the item removed failed with no one seconding it. He said after that it should be challenged. Council also commented on the potential removal of the open forum section from council meetings. "I think the public comment section is important," Councillor Trevor Seip said. "I've stated before many times that public information we get is valuable providing it's constructive... It gives us a chance to review what the issues [and] concerns are." Knott agreed to some extent, saying he wanted people to be able to state their intent as late as 4:30 p.m. on the day of a council meeting to ask questions about an issue on the agenda. He took the model from Chatham -Kent's council procedures. "I think that's a decent way to do this rather than eliminating questions," he said. "I still like to see that public input." Chambers, however, said the intent was to formalize council meetings. She said council, staff and ratepayers need to know what is on the agenda because the minutes often don't capture the public forum portion of the meeting. "In light of the way that things are moving forward with the new rules under the Ombudsman, we need more formal rules... to document and provide formal responses from council," she said. "This tightens up that process." Chambers also said to remember that the meetings are public in that the public can attend and view them, but not public in that they "don't have the right to participate." "Council is to debate issues among each other," she said. "That is what has been incorporated into this procedural bylaw and many others." Knott then suggested holding quarterly "town hall" style meetings where ratepayers could inform council of concerns they have, an idea which was supported by other councillors. The changes suggested by council, such as Knott's suggestion of meetings being held in Blyth and East Wawanosh, the proposed town hall meetings to replace the open forum and closed meeting recording were carried and will be considered under a new draft bylaw. Vanastra to be featured on CBC's `Still Standing' `Still Standing' Vanastra will be featured on CBC's television show `Still Standing' which shines a spotlight on communities that are in existence despite facing great adversity. The show's host, comedian and actor Jonny Harris, shown above, will perform a stand-up show as part of the show's filming. (Photo submitted) By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen The Huron East community of Vanastra will be featured in an upcoming episode of the CBC's Still Standing. Economic Development Officer Jan Hawley spoke about the upcoming production at council's Jan. 12 meeting, saying that a 13 - member crew will be in the community Feb. 1-5, with a live show scheduled for the final day. Hawley invited councillors to participate in the live show featuring host Jonny Harris. She hopes to have between 200 and 300 people there to help show community spirit at the Vanastra Community Christian Reformed Church. The show, Hawley told councillors, aims to profile communities with rich histories that have endured rough economic challenges, but are, as the title of the show implies, still standing. The process, Hawley said, began late last summer when she was contacted by Maya Bilbao, a researcher for a production company that works with the CBC program. She said that the unique history of the former Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) base was what initially captured the attention of the producers. In her report, Hawley told councillors that the competition to be featured in the 2016 season was fierce and Vanastra was chosen as one of 22 communities that will be featured, with the episode likely to air this summer. The live show will be filmed at the Vanastra Community Christian Reformed Church on Friday, Feb. 5. Doors will open at 6 p.m. and admittance will be on a first-come, first-served basis. In an interview with The Citizen after the council meeting, Hawley said that one of the aspects of the community that really attracted producers is the community spirit in Vanastra. That specifically is something she hopes to show off during the live portion of the show early next month. She said she couldn't have been more surprised when she was told Vanastra had been selected for the 2016 season. After the initial work last summer, Hawley says she forgot about it before being informed late last year that the production was to go ahead. She says Vanastra is such an interesting community, especially when considering its military history and the development of radar. She hopes to tell that story during the CBC production. In addition to the live show, several important figures in Vanastra's history will be featured on camera as well — Hawley being one of them. She says she hates being filmed for television, but was persuaded by the program's producers to speak about Vanastra and Huron East and all they have to offer. For more information about the live show, contact Hawley by phone at 519-527-0160 or by e-mail at jhawley@huroneast.com. (a77w��'e��Cl� ��J ,su e (Within? f L? Let everyone know about your new bundle of joy! 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