MOOSE JAW — City hall’s administrative review officer received one complaint from a resident last year — only the second one in five years — and determined that the complaint was unfounded.
Saundra Arberry submitted her 2024 annual report to city council’s Jan. 27 regular meeting. In it, she explained that she received one complaint from a citizen concerned about the joint-use school project.
Resident Jan Radwanski submitted a request to Arberry in mid-February 2024 asking that she review how city council approved three bylaws — Nos. 5680, 5681 and 5682 — in February 2023 and allegedly failed to host public consultations before passing them, the report said.
Specifically, Radwanski believed council should have adhered to bylaw 5642, the planning public notice policy bylaw, and hosted public consultations and placed signs in the Westheath subdivision with the amended concept plan for the joint-use school location and all proposed residential and infrastructure upgrades.
The request “had merit,” and after a thorough review, Arberry concluded that the municipality, while not following the legislation with public consultation requirements “to the letter,” did take the policy requirement for public consultation and notice seriously and adequately notified residents of council’s activities with this matter, her report said.
Arberry sent a copy of her decision to Radwanski and council, with the resident replying and providing “what he considered to be additional facts” and requested further investigation.”
“I declined as I did not consider the additional facts to fall within the legal parameters for reconsideration of a decision,” she added.
Besides Radwanski’s complaint, the administrative review officer has handled only one other issue since 2020. In 2023, a citizen expressed concern about council’s voting process with the first and second readings of three specific bylaws on Feb. 13, 2023.
Those bylaws dealt with the joint-use school project, while there was confusion then about how the mayor voted — or didn’t vote — during the readings since it didn’t look as if he raised his hand while tallying results. Council later re-voted on — and approved — all three bylaws on Feb. 27, 2023, while the mayor apologized for how he had handled the situation.
After reviewing the report, council voted unanimously to receive and file it.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Feb. 10.
