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3478-2020 Adopt a Committee Policy

3478-2020 Adopt a Committee Policy

BEING A BY-LAW TO ADOPT A COMMITTEE POLICY FOR THE TOWNSHIP OF AUGUSTA

Passed by Council June 29, 2020

 


THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWNSHIP OF AUGUSTA
BY -LAW NUMBER 3478-2020
BEING A BY-LAW TO ADOPT A COMMITTEE POLICY
FOR THE TOWNSHIP OF AUGUSTA

WHEREAS Section 8 (1) of the Municipal Act, 2001 as amended states the powers of a
municipality under this or any other Act shall be interpreted broadly so as to confer broad
authority on the municipality to enable the municipality to govern its affairs as it considers
appropriate and to enhance the municipality’s ability to respond to municipal issues;

AND WHEREAS Section 5 of the Act provides that a municipality’s power shall be
exercised by by-law;

AND WHEREAS the Council of the Corporation of the Township of Augusta deems it
advisable to adopt a Committees policy;

NOW THEREFORE the Council of the Corporation of the Township of Augusta enacts as
follows:

1. That the Committee Policy, as described in Schedule “A” attached hereto and
forming part of this by-law, is hereby adopted.

2. THAT this by-law shall come into force and effect on the date of passing.

READ a first and second time this 29 day of June, 2020.

READ a third time and passed this 29 day of June, 2020.

Signed by Mayor Doug Malanka and Clerk Annette Simonian

Schedule A
By-law 3478-2020

COMMITTEE POLICY

1. Purpose

The purpose of the policy is to support the creation, amendment, dissolution, the
appointment to and the Terms of Reference for advisory Committees, hereto known as
Committees, authorized by Council and associated with the Township.
The Township of Augusta acknowledges the value of Committees and the advice they
provide to Council. The creation, amendment, dissolution, and administration of
committees shall be conducted in a fair and equitable manner and in accordance with
applicable legislation or Council-approved procedures.

2. Definitions

Advisory Committee (aka Committee) of Council means a collection of individuals,
established by council, who bring unique training, knowledge, experience and
skills which complement that of Council to advise, make recommendations for
Council to more effectively govern the organization.
Subcommittee (aka Ad Hoc or working group) means a group, either formed by
Council or Committee working together to achieve a specified goal(s). The
lifespan of a subcommittee will last until it has achieved its goal(s), or until the
Council or Committee dissolves the group.
Statutory Committee and Board means a committee/board established by by-law
and/or pursuant to Provincial legislation that function pursuant to said by-law or
legislation.

3. Creation, Amendment or Dissolution

Procedure
Council may create a new Committee, amend or dissolve an existing Committee based
on the analysis of the following:

a. Council

i. Is the existence of this committee required by legislation and
regulation?
ii. Is this Committee mandate relevant, achievable, unique, aligned with
Corporate goals.
iii. operating effectively and efficiently in accordance with its Terms of
Reference?

b. Public Interest, community support or feedback

Creation
The creation of a new Committee may be triggered by the following factors:

a) Significant public issues or trends;
b) Where public input is deemed desirable;
c) Legislation requirement or changes;
d) Staff request.

Staff shall prepare a by-law to establish a Committee with the proposed committees
mandate goals and composition for Councils consideration.

After approval of the creation of a new Committee, the Clerk’s Office on behalf of Council
will facilitate the appointment process, in accordance with this policy and the procedural
by-law, based on the Committee’s mandate, goals and Terms of Reference.

Amendment and/or dissolution
All committees formed by Council will be formally amended or dissolved by Council by
resolution and may be triggered by:

a) Expiration of Term
b) Council Request
c) Merger with another committee
d) Committee recommendation to Council
e) Staff recommendation via report to Council
f) Lack of material, purpose, function, or public interest
g) New issues at Council or public pressure
h) Changes in Legislation
i) Committee’s effectiveness in fulfilling its mandate & alignment with Council’s term
objectives and priorities
j) Financial impact on required resources

4. Appointment of Members
Appointments will be made as soon as reasonably possible at the beginning of term of
Council.

Nominations
All residents, property owners and business owners or business employees of the
Township shall be eligible to serve as a member, subject to specific legislation
requirements or requirements in the Council approved policy.
Selection will be through the Mayor in consultation with Council. The applicant review
process will be completed in camera as the process involves reviewing personal
information. Recommendations and appointments will be made at a formal open meeting
of Council by resolution.

Term of Committee Appointments
Volunteer members will be appointed for the term of Council, including members for
statutory committees and boards that fall within the jurisdiction of the municipality, and
will continue to serve until their successors are appointed by Council.
A Member shall be replaced by Council resolution within 60 days, if necessary, in the
event that a committee member resigns from the committee or a member misses more
than three consecutive meetings and will be deemed to have forfeited their appointment.
Council reserves the right to rescind and/or change appointees at any point during a
committee term.

Application Process
The recruitment and review of potential members will be done as a call for interested
volunteers at the beginning of the term of Council. Notice of the appointment process will
be advertised on the website and the Augusta facebook page as well as other mediums
as deemed necessary.

All applicants must fully complete the standard application form which may be
downloaded from the Township’s website or obtained from the Clerk’s department.
(Appendix A)

Applicants names will be put forward to Council and representatives will be selected for
the term of Council, with consideration for the following criteria:

• Candidates affiliated with the Township
• Candidates with the needed skills/knowledge areas
• Candidates with an understanding of rural affairs
• Candidate’s qualifications and commitment to the functions of the committee as
outlined in the committee mandate and objectives.
• Candidate’s availability to participate

5. Meeting Procedures

Roles
The Mayor shall be Ex-officio Member.

Clerical/Administrative or technical staff to support a Committee will be assigned by the CAO.

The Mayor shall choose a member of Council as the Chair of the Committee based on
Councillor interest and consultation. The Chair acts as liaison between Committee and
Council and will bring forward any matters to Council as required and speak as the
official representative of the Committee.

The role of the citizen volunteer is to provide needed technical skills and knowledge and
provide desired representation of interest in the community.
Note: Ad Hoc/subcommittees may be formed from time to time to carry out specific
projects.

Rules of Procedure
Except as otherwise provided in the Terms of Reference, (Appendix B) all other
procedural matters shall be governed under the Municipal Procedural By-law.

Quorum
Quorum is desired, but not required to hold a meeting. If attendance at meetings is
consistently low the Council will review the necessity of the committee continuing.

Agenda Items
Agenda will be developed by the staff member and the Chair in accordance with the
Committee’s mandate.

Agendas and Minutes shall be distributed to the Committee by the Clerical Staff member
in advance of the meeting.

Agendas and minutes will be posted on the official Augusta Township website.

Reporting to Council
Committee reporting shall be done through the committee chair at the next Council
meeting during the ‘Committee Report’ section.

Members have no authorization to make autonomous decisions.

The Committee may address the Council as a delegation.

6. Training

7. Members will be given an orientation at the beginning of their appointment.
Mandatory Accessibility and Violence and Harassment training will be part of the
orientation.

8. Code of Conduct
All Council Members, Municipal employees and volunteers will be guided by relevant
policies and procedures including the Code of Conduct, Workplace Violence and
Harassment Policy and the Conflict of Interest Act.
In order to provide a positive and respectful workplace, all Council, staff and volunteers
will refrain from personal harassment and workplace conflict behaviour, including
offensive remarks or other actions that create intimidating, hostile or humiliating working
conditions.

9. Confidentiality
All members appointed by Council must sign a confidentiality agreement. Appendix C.

Appendix A = Application for Appointment to a Committee

Appendix B = the template page for the Committee Terms of Reference

Appendix C =

Confidentiality Agreement

I,_____________________________, am a volunteer on the ____________________
committee for the Corporation of the Township of Augusta.

I hereby acknowledge and understand the following:

That the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act provides standards for
and requires administrative, technical and physical safeguards to ensure the security and
confidentiality of records and personal information under the control of the Corporation of the
Township of Augusta.

I further recognize and understands that in performing the duties and responsibilities pursuant to
this Agreement, I will become knowledgeable with respect to a wide variety of confidential and
other non-public records concerning the business of the Township and its affiliates and/or
personal information of an identifiable individual. I therefore agrees that I will not, either during or
after the termination of my contract for any reason, disclose any such confidential or non-public
information to any unauthorized persons, except with the express written consent of Council, or
otherwise required by law.

The parties acknowledge the confidential nature of this Agreement and hereby agree not to
disclose its contents to any other party, except as may be required by law or to facilitate the
administration of the written Agreement.

NOTE: Failure to comply with this agreement may result in removal from the Committee.

________________________
Employee Signature

_________________________
Date

________________________
Witness Signature

_________________________
Date

 

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