By Kevin J Sabo
For the Advance
Due to a change in legislation, the Town of Castor has had to make an adjustment to the dates of the upcoming byelection.
Originally scheduled to take place on Mar. 26, the byelection being held to replace recently resigned Travis Ryan will now be taking place on Apr. 9. Legislation requires municipal councils to hold a byelection within 90 days of a vacancy opening on council.
The original Mar. 26 date was set under previous guideline requiring one month between nomination cut-off and election. The legislation pertaining to the election guidelines changed Jan. 1, however town administration did not realise the full scope of the changes until after the previous meeting where the date was set.
“I didn’t know about the change,” said CAO Sandi Jackson. “It wasn’t posted on the Municipal Affairs website until recently.”
With Coun. Ryan’s resignation being effective Jan. 12 of this year, the town must hold it’s byelection by Apr. 12.
Municipal Affairs attends meeting
Representatives from Municipal Affairs were on hand on during the Feb. 11 council meeting as well.
They were on hand as Castor had been selected this year for an accountability audit, something which all municipalities under 5,000 residents will see at least once every four-year cycle under current legislation.
During their audit, the two Municipal Affairs auditors look at current bylaws, policies and governance. The auditors also sit in on a council meeting to ensure that councillors are all voting on motions or recusing themselves when appropriate.
Town administration and council will receive a report from Municipal Affairs sometime in the next several months.
Other highlights of the Feb. 11 council meeting:
- Council has ratified the 2019 pool rates. Children single entry will cost $3, youth from age 9-17 and seniors (Age 65+) will $4, and adults will cost $5. Day passes, season passes, and punch cards will also be available.
- Incoming CAO Christopher Robblee will be putting together strategic planning sessions for council. He will confirm dates at a later time.
- In a motion made coun. Rod Zinger, council has approved a tax-arrears payment plan for a resident. The plan will see taxes in arrears and 2019 taxes paid in full by Dec. 31 of this year. In event of default the account in arrears will see a penalty placed on account when penalties are applied during the year.
- Council has approved a contract extension with Chapman and Co. for audit services for 2018 to 2022.