Duane Hicks
Town council will decide tonight whether or not it should get more pay.
The Council Remuneration Committee, formed late last year to review the issue, is recommending council increase its full-day per diem rate from $150/day to $160/day.
The committee also is recommending an annual remuneration increase equal to what the management/non-union staff receive, which is 1.5 percent for 2017.
If approved, this increase would be retroactive to Jan. 1. And going forward, council pay will advance as the Management/Non-Union Salary Administration Policy does.
“Records indicate that the last increase to council remuneration took place in 2010,” town clerk Lisa Slomke says in a written report.
“Since then, the matter of remuneration has been reviewed twice with no increases recommended,” she noted.
“In consultation with neighbouring municipalities, there seems to be an increased number of municipalities moving toward implementing annual increases in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI),” Slomke added.
Lastly, the Council Remuneration Committee is recommending council review the remainder of its travel policy
(i.e., meals, mileage, etc.) by way of passing a subsequent resolution tasking that review to the existing committee, thus requiring an amendment to their terms of reference.
If council supports this recommendation, a subsequent report/resolution re: travel policy will be presented at the next committee of the whole meeting.
In related news, council is expected to decide tonight on which options it would like to use for the 2018 municipal election.
This includes ranked ballot voting versus “first-past-the-post” voting, as well as whether to stick with vote-by-mail, adopt telephone/Internet voting, or revert to traditional polling stations and paper ballots.
The committee of the whole will meet first at 5:30 p.m., but will go in-camera for an indefinite length of time to discuss four items.
Other business on tonight’s agenda includes:
•a report re: the 2017 preliminary operating and capital budgets;
•a letter from J. Beazley, chair of the Rainy River Future Development Corp., re: per capita financial support for 2017-18;
•a letter from W. Derendorf re: a contribution to the La Verendrye Parkway;
•a report re: reviewing dog and cat licensing;
•a recommendation re: heavy truck parking on Scott Street;
•a report re: rezoning 200 McIrvine Rd. from “Open Space” to “Institutional”;
•a report re: the removal of the holding provision on Lot 21 Minnie Ave. N.;
•a recommendation re: marketing funding for the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce;
•a lease renewal notice for Bell Mobility equipment on the water tower; and
•a recommendation re: the handi-van tender.
