New Tec’s in camera meeting — plus links to council video and Beeton-related documents
By Kate Harries AWARE News Network
New Tecumseth Council meets tomorrow, Monday March 23, at 7 pm. Link to agendas under Upcoming Meeting Agendas. There is notice of an in camera meeting for a legal matter – the Beeton Woods issue and, no doubt, the position the town should take with regard to the upcoming hearing April 14 by Simcoe County Council of the Rizzardo appeal of the clear-cutting stop-work order.
Note to residents attending the council meeting: Section 239 (1) of the Municipal Act requires meetings to be open to the public. That is the default position. Section 239 (2) lists the exceptions and states that councillors may discuss a limited range of matters (including legal) behind closed doors. They do not have to (unless, as provided in Section (3), the matter relates to the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act).
If a legal matter is of major community interest and councillors feel that residents are entitled to hear the town lawyer’s advice regarding strengths and weaknesses in the position taken by New Tecumseth, and the views of different councillors as they assess the best way forward, council can choose to discuss it in open meeting.
Councillors are not allowed to take any decision in camera. They have to come out of their meeting into open session and pass a resolution in public to approve whatever they want to do. So don’t leave when they go in camera! Wait outside until it’s over and go back in to hear what actions they are planning to take. No time is given on the notice of the in camera meeting, the assumption here is that it will be held at the end of the open session, and not at some earlier time during the day.
Rogers TV has posted its video of New Tecumseth’s March 2, 2015 Committee of the Whole / Council meeting at which councillors stood up for the Beeton Woods.
AWARE Simcoe has obtained these documents relating to the clear-cutting.
Application for Special Permit
Any further interesting documents that come our way will be posted here.
Go to County issues stop-work order and scroll down for links to all previous coverage of this issue.
Leave a Reply