HomeMy WebLinkAboutAdmin-30-96THE CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON
Meeting:
General Purpose and Administration Committee File#
Date:Res. # �
November 18, 1996
By -Law #
Report #: Tr TAT -?-� Fit#:
Subject: REPORTING OF PENDING COURT CASES
Recommendations:
It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and
Administration Committee recommend to Council the following:
1. THAT Report ADMIN -30-96 be received for information.
BACKGROUND
On September 16, 1996, Council directed that the Chief
Administrative Officer report to the General Purpose and
Administration Committee on a process of reporting all pending
court cases that affect the municipality.
The municipality's regular court dates are currently scheduled
for the third Tuesday of every second month. Occasionally, when
the docket becomes very large on the regular days, other dates
are also scheduled. During these court days, our By-law
prosecutions (zoning infractions, property standards charges,
noise complaints, burning offenses, waste material offenses,
etc.), animal control charges, parking issues and Building
infractions are heard.
An internal docket is maintained by the By-law Enforcement
Division. The actual docket may differ slightly as there are
often parking infractions added to the official list by the court
staff. If Council wishes, staff could forward a copy of the
docket the Wednesday of the week prior to the court date. Should
any additional items be included after forwarding the docket to
Council, an addendum could be sent.
The insurance claims that the municipality is involved in are
more difficult to monitor. Once an insurance claim is forwarded
to our insurer, the matter is taken out of our hands. It is
written in the contract with Frank Cowan that they are to make
decisions on behalf of the municipality and, therefore, represent
us at the Hearings. A Claims Analysis, which provides a status
of cases covering a five year period, is forwarded to the
RECYCLED PAPIER PAPER RECYCLE +210,
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THIS IS PRIED ON RECYCLED PAPERNT
Report ADMIN -30-96 - 2 - November 18, 1996
municipality quarterly. Upon receipt of the analysis, the
Treasury Department circulates same to the Department Heads and
Council. Also, once a claim is finalized, a Claims Settled
Report is forwarded to the Treasurer. This report advises of the
amount which is to be forwarded to the insurer as well as an
explanation of the claim and settlement.
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In addressing this issue with our insurance carrier, we were
advised that the information is subject to solicitor/client
privilege and therefore cannot be forwarded. An internal policy
could be put in place whereby any staff member who is subpoenaed
to a hearing advises Treasury who in turn would advise members of
Council. This, however, would not catch all claims as there are
only certain cases in which staff are subpoenaed.
Under the circumstances, we feel that there wouldn't be a lot
accomplished by providing reports to Council members regarding
by-law court dates, in that the important issue is that the
Municipality is properly represented at these Hearings. This, of
course, will continue to ' occur by way of the offices of the
Municipal Solicitors.
Respectfully submitted,
W. H. Stockwell
Chief Administrative Officer
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