In a letter reviewed at County of Paintearth council on Tues. Nov. 24, Christopher Robblee shared that Camp Beaver Tail ‘was another success this past summer with its highest attendance on record’.
He added that a total of $7,695.88 in surplus dollars was collected from this year.
It was initially requested that funding from the county to support this program with an expected reduction to their Canada Summer Jobs Funding which to their pleasant surprise they received the funding requested.
In addition, the program had more high school students hired which lowered wage expenses. When all was said and done, they grossed $5,695.88 more than usual for 2020.
It was asked if instead of giving this extra funding back, they could keep this for future funding for anticipated funding shortfalls such as the Canada Summer Jobs fund.
Council passed a motion for Camp Beaver Tail to keep the surplus.
Library funding
The Coronation Memorial Library Board asked the county for $7,500 for their basic operations and programming which will carry them over until June and July when they receive government operating grant funding.
The board provided a comprehensive budget for the 2021 year as well. Council passed a motion accepting this request.
Audit engagement letter
Monica Faupel of Endeavor Chartered Professional Accountants came to council via video conference to speak to the county’s Audit Engagement letter.
This letter is sent in the interim after the initial audit is completed but before the audit is needed to be sent in by deadline.
Faupel shared that the county, after completing this audit earlier this year, never encountered an area where any issues or corrections’ were needed.
“If I did I would ask for it to be corrected. I don’t anticipate any issues with respect [to the County of Paintearth],” said Faupel.
A motion to receive the presentation as information was carried.
Procedure bylaw
First reading of the draft procedure bylaw was given after administration gave the run down of the changes being proposed.
It was explained by administration that the purpose of changing this bylaw was to clarify a few things listed such as the timing for presenters or councillors to speak is limited to 10 minutes but the reeve has discretion if exceeded.
They added that any presenters may use technology to convey their presentation.
A ‘delegations section’ was added to show how presentations will run during meetings as was communications with council.
Brownlee LLP also noted a few discrepancies between the policy and the bylaw.
Assistant Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Brenda Hepp said, “There are not many changes but it’s just for consistency.”
Communications policy
The communications policy was another document reviewed by Brownlee LLP.
One section of external communication standards was created explaining that any requests from the public must follow this format.
For example, efforts will be made to respond to information requests in a timely manner based on the complexity of the request and the availability of county resources but if the CAO deems these communications as ‘abusive, litigious or libelous’ they can choose to not give a response.
With certain parties requesting information, the county felt this review was pertinent for the future so everyone would know what the rules are.
“Hopefully that clears things up in the future,” said Chief administrative Officer (CAO) Michael Simpson. “It was a real time consuming effort without compromising the position of the county.”
Council passed a motion to carry these changes.
Private delegation
From approximately 9:45 a.m. to 10:35 a.m., the County of Paintearth entered into a private delegation with the Town of Coronation via Zoom to hear of the new recreation facility Coronation is looking into.
Terri Huxley
ECA Review
