Summer meeting schedule works for council

by Mike Robinson

ABERFOYLE

A summertime schedule of meetings seems to work well in Puslinch.

On Sept. 5, Mayor Dennis Lever raised the issue to get council’s take on the reduced number of meetings over the summer months.

He said this is the second summer with the amended summer council schedule - where council only met on the third Wednesday of the month.

Typically the township has a daytime meeting on the first Wednesday and a night time session on the third Wednesday.

Lever said he just wanted to see if the approach was working for council and staff.

“Are there any suggestions or ideas for improvement?”

Councillor Susan Fielding wondered what staff comments were.

Fielding said she talked briefly with deputy clerk Heather Krouskie who liked the idea.

Clerk Brenda Law commented the additional meetings in the summer allow council and staff to remain on top of things better.

But she also agreed the last meeting in August was out of the ordinary with a number of issues on the agenda.

At the same time, Law agreed the reduced schedule is better for staff to plan holidays and vacations. She added the schedule can always be reviewed at a later date.

“It worked well this year,” said Law.

Fielding said her preference would be to keep the amended council schedule for the summer months.

Councillor Jerry Schmidt said he saw no adverse effect to the amended schedule, “and it opened up some opportunities for staff and council to plan time with their families.”

Fielding stressed the municipality always has the option of calling special meetings if there is something urgent to be taken care of.

Lever said the consensus is that council appears to be happy with the amended schedule.

September 21, 2012