MONTAGUE
The clock is ticking for councils across P.E.I. to start transitioning into the province’s new Municipal Government Act.
Municipal Affairs manager Samantha Murphy told members of the Federation of Prince Edward Island Municipalities (FPEIM) this weekend she anticipates the act will be proclaimed by the end of this year.
She said councils should now be looking at making some of the early transitions required by the act.
“In terms of the early transitions for councils, there are things that we’re aiming for the end of this year. There are definitely transitions you can be working on right now,” Murphy said during the group’s semi-annual meeting at Montague Curling Club on Saturday.
Some of those transitions include setting up a process around scheduled monthly meetings, as well as changes to advertising requirements and special notices for meetings, conflict of interest protocols, record-keeping and other day-to-day procedures.
“Some of these are not necessarily new but have been restated so its time to get ready for those,” said Murphy.
Another required aspect some councils will have to think about is getting an official address where residents can send correspondence.
Murphy noted that some parts of the act will be phased in. For example, aspects around municipal elections, including the requirement that every municipality hold one advance poll, will have to be in place for 2018 while other pieces will be phased in.
A five-year capital plan will be required from councils in 2019, a land use plan in 2022 and an office with regular hours by 2022.
She said councils will also have to make their own decisions on whether to seek legal advice when updating bylaws to conform with the new act.
Bedeque and Area community council chair Ron Raynor raised the issue of legal costs following Murphy’s presentation.
Raynor said he heard another municipality was looking at a $14,000 legal bill for a lawyer to review the updated bylaws.
“Is there going to be assistance for small communities updating bylaws? Or how do we go about this where it’s not going to cost us $14,000 plus?” asked Raynor.
Murphy said her office would be able to help answer questions over the phone and has provided info sheets online to help guide councils.
She said the new bylaw forms will be available as essentially “fill in the blanks” templates that were designed in consultation with CAOs across the province.
While legal counsel is not required, she advised those updating bylaws to make sure they perform due diligence when updating those forms.
She also suggested councils work together when looking at how they’ll implement changes required by the new act.
“It’s very important to be working together and identifying solutions together,” said Murphy. “There’s a lot of work that’s going to be happening and we don’t need to be duplicating. So we do encourage you to, when possible, talk to each other.”
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