Council Highlights June 4th

Chinook Arch Regional Library System CEO Robin Hepher and Nanton Thelma Fanning Librarian Gloria McGowan presented Council with a PowerPoint of their services available to our town. The front library entrance signs states, “more than books” - did you know your $20 library membership includes language classes, online courses, downloadable audiobooks (HELLO COMMUTERS!!) and Hoopla which is like Netflix with movies and tv shows?

Council and Administration are continuing to work through the Municipal Government Act (MGA) mandatory requirements for bylaws and policies. The draft for the public participation policy was reviewed and with our feedback, Administration will bring back revisions to Council for the June 18th meeting. We also approved the Code of Conduct for Members of Council Bylaw #1304/18 with all 3 readings. This bylaw clearly defines the expectations of Councillors in Nanton.

Back in March, there was a discussion brought forward to Council from the Governance Committee regarding the current remuneration policy. The committee members each dedicated in excess of 50 hours towards the hiring process of the new CAO. This included everything from writing the hiring ad, to reviewing and analyzing 55 resumes and 3 stages of interviewing candidates. It was determined that this was above and beyond the time expectations of their roles. In the discussion on Monday night, it was noted that the Council could have utilized the services of a hiring firm at the costs of approximately $20,000 to recruit a CAO but they chose the avenue of the committee as the best fit for this process. A recommendation was made (by a non-committee member) to compensate the four members of the committee with 5 days per diem each, amounting to $800 each, for a total of $2400. Furthermore, there was a recommendation made to review the remuneration policy as our new CAO had some recommendations from other municipalities to make the policy more concise.

The CAO report included an update on the proposal for the new public washrooms, the new wayfinding signage project, new initiatives for communicating with our business community and the process for opening the new public parking lot on 19th Street.

Jen Handley

Mayor of Nanton