HR report recommends starting process to reduce size of NVCA board

New Tecumseth Free Press Online

The Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority’s (NVCA) Human Resources Advisory Committee (HRAC) meets Aug. 13 to deal with the CAO’s report that requests “endorsement, in principle” to reduce its Board of Directors from 27 to 18 members.

CAO Gayle Wood’s report to the HRAC is the follow-up to recommendations 20 and 21 of the Service Delivery and Operational Review which deals with the size and composition of the NVCA’s Board of Directors.

But where the consultant’s option creates a shared seat between the three smallest member municipalities – Amaranth, Grey Highlands, and Melancthon – that reduces the board to 16, Ms. Wood’s recommendation retains a seat for each watershed community. Either scenario (See charts below) municipalities such as New Tecumseth and Essa Township, who currently hold two seats each, would be compensated with a weighted voting structure that keeps their two votes intact.

A reduction to 18 members is estimated to save about $12,500 annually. And, could be reduced by a further $11,000 as “reduced membership the Board could move to full Board decision-making” by eliminating the advisory committee structure.

Ms. Wood’s report includes a comparison between the NVCA’s staff to board ratio with conservation authorities from across the province. Out of 36 authorities, the NVCA is the 13th largest with a staff of 28, but is second in terms of board size with 27, only two less than Toronto Region which has 28 members, and a staff 409.

“It has long been recognized through governance studies and review that the most efficient models for Conservation Authority decision-making are based on a streamlined Board of Directors with full Board decision-making,” according to Ms. Wood. “The model of having a current 27 member Board of Directors to oversee a now 31 member staff is not in keeping with today’s system of a streamlined decision-making organization. The Board must lead the way in establishing the most effective and efficient manner of addressing its business while operating under the key principles of integrity, transparency, and accountability.”

The HRAC recommendation still has to be approved by the NVCA’s board, which meets Aug. 28, and whose next step involves gathering the input of the member municipalities before a final decision is made.