Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutADMIN 19-81 REPORT #'13 ~,/Z.1J~ CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF NEWCASTLE 40 TEMPERANCE STREET BOWMANVILL E, ONTARIO L1C3A6 TELEPHONE 623-3379 REPORT TO COUNCIL ADMIN. 19-81 MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 21st, 1981 RE: Proposed Revision to the Committee Structure of Council ----------------------------------------------------------------- RECOMMENDATIONS: It is respectfully recommended: 1. That this report be received; and 2. That Town Council adopt a single Standing Committee format for conducting municipal business, whereby all members of Council would sit as a "General Purpose and Administration'Committee", and would report to Council on all matters brought before it through the offices of the Chief Administrative Officer; and 3. That the attached by-law be approved by Council giving effect to the above. ----------------------------------------------------------------- BACKGROUND AND COMMENT: At this time, there are at least four distinct disadvantages to the existing Standing Committee structure of Council: Firstly, there is a high volume of committee meetings requiring the attendance of Town Councillors and members of staff. If the number of meetings can be reduced, the amount of time available to Councillors and staff for municipal business will be increased. Attendance at meetings for staff people is non-productive in the sense that no new work is being undertaken while attending meetings. Secondly, the length of time required for the Town to respond to requests from its external agencies and D~ . ~~~ X01 r ~~ C~ ~t c~J't, /~ REPORT TO COUNCIL -2- MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 21st, 1981 ADMIN. 14-81 organizations can be excessive under the present circumstances. Because of the scheduling of Council and Committee meetings, significant delays in responding to a request, may result. Thirdly, the present system of Standing Committee meetings and Council meetings makes it difficult for the administration to co-ordinate reports from the various departments and to ensure that Council is getting full benefit of a review by the Chief Administrative Officer and the Staff Committee. This is due in part to the fact that, because of the high volume of meetings, it is difficult to physically prepare the necessary paperwork for a meeting and allow adequate time for a review of the contents of the reports. Fourthly, the work of Council is sometimes hindered because matters discussed in Committee have not been thoroughly discussed by all members of Council. Matters coming from Committee and being presented to Council are frequently debated in Council because members did not have the opportunity of reviewing the matter in a committee meeting. The attached schedule of meetings for Committee and Council outline how a single committee system would work with Council. The schedule follows essentially the existing system between the Planning and Development Committee and Council, and, in fact, would follow the same basic procedures as exists now between the Planning and Development Committee and Council. It can be seen fzom the attached schedule that all reports prepared by the departments of the civic administration are to be forwarded to the Chief Administra- tive Officer for review and approval prior to inclusion in an agenda of the General Purpose and Administration Committee. This basic change in the preparation and review of reports will allow for greater co-ordination of Town business. The Staff Committee becomes an increasingly important mechanism, whereby senior staff and the C.A.O. may review different matters before the Town, and as a co-ordinated body, can respond to requests from Council. The Chief Administrative ....../3 . ~ /3 REPORT TO COUNCIL -3- MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 21st, 1981 ADMIN. 19 -81 Officer and the Staff Committee can then review the business of the Town, set priorities for the preparation of work and further aid in streamlining the work of Town Council. In addition to the above, all reports to the General Purpose and Administration Committee of Council .will follow a standard format as set out in the attachment to this report, and will be signed by each Department Head and approved by the Chief Administrative Officer prior to submission to the Committee for consideration. • Respectfully submitted, D. N. SMITH, M.C.I.P. Administrator DNS/mr Attachment 1. STANDARD FORMAT FOR REPORTS TO THE GENERAL PURPOSE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE On departmental letter head, 82" x 11" size, the lead line should read "Report to the General Purpose and Administration Committee meeting of 1981:' The second line should read "Report Number", the departmental abbreviation, the number of the report consecutively numbered from the first of the year, - 1981. Following that, is the subject line entitled "Subject": A brief description of the matter at hand, the location of the property involved if appropriate, the name of the proponants or persons requesting Council's action, and the file numbers from the department, the Clerk's Office if appropriate, and the C.A.O.'s Office if appropriate. • Then follows the recommendations. The lead to the recommendations should follow a standard format as well, along these lines: It is respectfully recommended: 1. That this report be received 6y the Committee; and 2. That Council adopt the following resolution in respect to the above. Resolutions should be indented on the page and should begin with the standard lead of "Whereas the Council of the Town of Newcastle......" so on and so forth. The action part of the resolution should read "Be it now resolved therefore that Council hereby adopt, approves, denies;'or whatever may be appropriate in the circumstances. ~~ A • The next major head would read "Background". In this section there should be a brief review of the history of the particular matter. History in this case refers to when the correspondence was received, if that is appropriate, the last resolutions of Council or Committee in respect of the matter, the status of the matter within the Town should be outlined, and any previous actions described in this section. Background should conclude with a brief statement as to what staff's understanding of the situation is, which would then lead into the next major section, the comment. Under "Comment", staff are to indicate their reasons for presenting the recommendation, with a brief discussion to the implications of taking the proposed action, including reference to any budget implications that might be involved. If the expenditure of funds is involved, reference should be made to the Account Number within the Department budget from which the expenditure would be made. • ~' 13 In conclusion, the report would be respectfully submitted by the Department head, by the Chief Administrative Officer. No report should be submitted to the Committee without those signatures or signatures of the designated person authorized to sign in the absence of the Department head or the C.A.O. In the bottom left-hand corner of the standard format page, the authors of the report should be identified by initial s, as would be the typist. In the bottom left-hand corner the date of writing the report should be indicated, as should be indicated any persons receiving copies of the report. C~ J •