Over the years, municipal council has been assisted by numerous knowledgable and dedicated community volunteers. At the March 12 council meeting, the discussion centred on the current committee structure. Mayor Adelaar said he wanted to streamline the committee structure and asked to repeal the Greenways Advisory Committee, a committee that was established in 2008 to "act in an advisory capacity recommending ways to implement greenway initiatives on the island. It will be expected to review and assess development proposals regarding greenways integrity and opportunities." Another task of the committee was to pursue the securing of greenways lands through private donations programs, conservation covenants and Crown land transfers.
At the beginning of the meeting, councillor Alison Morse presented a list of current municipal committees for discussion and appointment of council liaisons if applicable.
Mayor Jack Adelaar said, "I wanted to streamline the committee structure and here we are back to the same old, same old. I feel it's important that we give consideration to an infrastructure committee. The others can be working groups. I want to clean up those 15 different committees." Adelaar suggested appointing an infrastructure committee that acts as an umbrella committee between the other committees and council. "The infrastructure committee would move through the fluff, the issues that have no relevancy. The people on the infrastructure committee will be aware of what [council] is looking for," he said.
Morse said that many committees are set up by bylaw. She added, "And three of the committees are new: the finance committee, the solid waste committee and the recreation committee." Morse said that municipal staff had identified the need for a committee that deals with recreation.
Councillor Tim Rhodes said, "I don't see that putting another committee between the committees and council would streamline the process. And shouldn't council be giving directions to the committees?" Rhodes added that he thinks such a structure would lead to a "doubling up on duty." "If we have a committee that all the other committees report to and that then reports to council, I wouldn't call that streamlining. I don't see an umbrella group fit into the committee structure," he said.
Councillor Wolfgang Duntz said, "I see some merit in what the mayor suggests, but we also have a lot of tradition [in our committees]. We never had an infrastructure committee but a task force similar to what we have for the financial advisory committee can help us come to terms with roads, sewer and water. That would allow us to draw on advice from experts in the field for free."
Morse said, "For infrastructure, there are major issues and a lot of money is needed for roads, the sewer lines, the fire hall and maybe to construct [a facility] for solid waste. I could see an infrastructure task force that would look after the fire hall improvement, the sewer and water systems, play an oversight role in the construction of the community hall and an oversight role for waste facilities. This committee would act as resource to staff and to council and provide input on the pros and cons on what needs to be done." Morse added, "The idea of identifying a pool of resources can be the first step. When staff needs to ask for suggestions how to move forward, there could be a call list. We could ask for expressions of interest who would be interested to offer advice to staff."
Adelaar said, "We could use [the committee's] expertise to move forward in a quicker fashion. We want to save money for the people on the island but we also need to produce services."
Duntz said, "Dealing with infrastructure is complex." He recalled being involved with the cove bay water system for the last 15 years and when the group requested action from council, nothing happed. "No matter what committee you have, if council doesn't have a mind to do it, it won't happen," he said.
Councillor Andrew Stone suggested that rather than streamlining, council was looking to bring some definition and efficiency to the committee structure and that this could be accomplished with a focused mandate and a timeline. He said, "The perceived inaction on the committees has actually been council's inaction. People spent hundred and hundreds of hours to see council shelve their plans. I sat in on various committees and talked to many people. Virtually all [committees] have significant values and small tweaks would increase their efficiency."
Morse said, "Part of the problem comes from the terms of reference that allow the committee to focus on what they want to and not what council requires. To each of the committees, it's a big issue but if you look at the bigger picture, it didn't necessarily come up the ladder."
Adeleaar proposed that council direct staff to repeal the Greenway Advisory Committee establishment bylaw. He said, "There are a number of reasons, one is that Greenways is not required anymore - it should go back to being a trail committee. The way the bylaw is presently written and enacted is too wide and it is not required for the island."
Morse said, "We should be looking at a high level what we need a committee to do. Over time, I think we should get rid of committees established by bylaw and establish them as select committee. The Greenways Advisory Committee's mandate doesn't work. I support repealing the bylaw once a trail and parks committee is established. The parks aspect was a huge function and we need a committee to assist with the parks master plan."
Adelaar suggested to ask the committee not to do any further work until council has reached a decision. Morse said, "We have subdivisions on the table where comments on parks and trails that are needed. I suggest we instruct the committee to focus entirely on work that comes from council."
Duntz questioned whether the recreation committee and the parks and trails committee should be separate entities. CAO Kathy Lalonde explained that the committees would advise two different departments with different budgets and suggested that staff report to council and come forward with a recommendation. She also suggested that the request to dissolve the Greenways Advisory Committee should be shelved until such time.
