NORTH BATTLEFORD ‑ North Battleford city council members have completed their first meeting at their new location.
Monday marked council’s first meeting in Room 107 of the Don Ross Centre, their new permanent council chamber.
The first meeting was held using a “hybrid” format where the meeting was simultaneously conducted over the Zoom teleconference platform. Most members of council attended live at Don Ross Centre, while delegations and most members of city administration appeared virtually by Zoom.
Room 107 had previously been used as a location for public meetings in the past. The room has been set up as a council chamber with desks and equipment, though the city is still waiting for all the required technical equipment to arrive to broadcast meetings.
While there had been concerns about sound and video quality, the first meeting at the venue seemed to proceed with few hitches. Council had not been meeting live since last fall when meetings were still held at their temporary venue, the Chapel Gallery. They had not held a full meeting at City Hall since March 2020 when the pandemic hit.
A couple of agenda items stood out at that first meeting at the new location. One was a presentation by Jane Zielke de Montbrun of the Canadian Mental Health Association - Battlefords Branch, who appeared by Zoom. Zielke de Montbrun proposed a volunteer program where their members would remove graffiti throughout the city from spring to fall each year, with the city providing supplies. This would include removing graffiti tags painted on any city facilities, as well as for any private properties that would like them removed.
The initiative was lauded as a great idea by members of council. City Manager Randy Patrick pledged to bring back a plan to the next council meeting for how the initiative can be put together.
Another major item discussed was second reading of the new code of ethics bylaw, which could see the city take on an integrity commissioner to conduct investigations.
That passed unanimously and the bylaw will come back for third reading and likely approval at a future meeting.
