The coming municipal election in Minto will have at least one cost savings measure – fewer council meetings – at least in the weeks around the Oct. 25 election.
Council adopted an administrative report recommending dropping a number of meetings, specifically the ones scheduled for Sept. 15, Oct. 20, and Nov. 17.
That will cut the meetings down to one per month for September, October and November.
The report to council stated one of the reasons would be to reduce staff workload during the election period. Special meetings might still be required for matters requiring immediate council decisions, and those meetings would be called at the direction of the mayor.
Mayor David Anderson said one of the reasons the issue was being discussed was because of the potential of the lame duck period, and the shortness of staff. Fewer meetings would alleviate some of the pressure.
“And there may not be a lot of things happening in the next month or so,” he added. “But, we also know that something can come up.”
Municipal coordinator Bill Winegard added his agreement in that assessment.
He said some councillors may have other things to think about in the next couple of months.
He agreed if there are issues that might need to be dealt with, but, if at all possible, the workload could be reduced with a fewer number of meetings.
“If there needs to be an emergency meeting, it can still be called,” Anderson said.
