‘Tis the season. The season for budgets.
Sechelt council will be holding its budget deliberations on Dec. 19, Jan. 4 and 11. The draft budget binder will be distributed to council ahead of those meetings.
Regular council meetings will continue to be held on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. There was some discussion among council members about whether to change the status quo to Monday evenings during the Nov. 23 Committee of the Whole meeting, which continued at the Dec. 7 council meeting.
Coun. Darren Inkster spoke in favour of Monday meetings, stating that agendas would be reviewable over the weekend (agendas are published on Fridays) and the agendas could come out earlier for council to have more time to review them. He mentioned he has some challenges with the Wednesday schedule.
Coun. Dianne McLauchlan spoke in favour of having more time to review the agenda and consult with people, while Coun. Brenda Rowe said she re-asks questions to staff during council meetings, but makes sure staff know ahead of time in order to bring information to the table.
Also opposed to Monday meetings was Coun. Alton Toth, citing that a Friday agenda release ahead of a Monday meeting is a short period of time for the community to get together and pay attention to issues that matter to them. He would, he said, be supportive if agendas could be published on Wednesdays.
Mayor John Henderson said he is concerned that the previous discussion tended to focus on what worked for council members on an individual basis. He pointed to other municipalities that meet on Mondays and publish their agendas on Fridays.
Inkster put forward a motion to move to a Monday schedule (with Tuesdays in the case of a Monday holiday), but it failed with Inkster, Henderson, and Coun. Adam Shepherd in favour and McLauchlan, Rowe, Toth and Coun. Donna Bell opposed. The recommendation to continue council meetings as usual was adopted, with Inkster casting the sole vote against.
