Summerland’s municipal council is making changes to its procedure bylaw.
At the regular council meeting on Nov. 26, council passed the first three readings of the bylaw.
The procedure bylaw was considered earlier in November, after the new council had been inaugurated.
“We’re not changing anything as far as the process goes,” said Linda Tynan, chief administrative officer for the municipality.
The changes in the bylaw are intended to improve clarity and follow best practices.
These include more accurate definitions and more consistent use of terms, more flexible references to documents and sections, removing overly restrictive or limiting statements and adjusting the bylaw to align with current administrative practices.
One of the changes is to set the publishing deadline for the agenda at 4 p.m. on the Thursday prior to the meeting.
Other changes govern the order of the meetings.
The public comment opportunity, which was added under former mayor Peter Waterman, will remain in place with the same restrictions. However, the items which qualify for this comment opportunity will not be highlighted in the agenda.
If the proposed changes are adopted, municipal staff will begin a more thorough review of the bylaw.
Because of the number of previous amendments and the number of proposed changes, municipal staff are recommending repealing the old bylaw and replacing it with a new procedure bylaw.
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