The Association of Manitoba Municipalities is hoping for a surge in numbers at its annual convention in November. President Doug Dobrowolski says the Association would like to see the new officials elected this past week in attendance. "We have seminars for the newly elected to get them familiar with the municipal world." He adds however, there is the hope outgoing members of council will also make an appearance, especially those in newly amalgamated municipalities. "The new council isn't officially sworn in till January 1 so they do not have voting privileges, so we're hoping the old councillors will come because they still carry the vote." Dobrowolski notes right now it is unknown how many delegates will show up, but the annual gathering usually draws between 1,000 and 1,200.
Meanwhile, he says there are about fifty-three resolutions being brought to the floor for voting this year. "But we have a number of bylaw changes that our association has to do because of amalgamation that we will be bringing forward as well." We asked Dobrowolski if amalgamation was having any other impacts on A.M.M., such as it's governance model. "We're going to be looking at the structure as we go forward. We have been, for the last couple of years, looking at how we might transition our board." He says this will likely come up at the association's strategic planning meeting in January.
Overall, Dobrowolski explains infrastructure remains the number one topic of discussion among municipalities and how councils will pay for the all the work that needs to happen. "Our communities and our province is growing, which is great to see, but the demands are there for amenities and all these things in our communities and the money has to come from somewhere." While communities are thankful for the programs made available by the province and federal government, Dobrowolski says it's just not enough to meet the requirements that are out there.
No hay comentarios.:
Publicar un comentario