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Vol. 19, No. 12, Wednesday, February 14, 2024 www.LamontLeader.com
MUNICIPAL INSPECTIONS Province scrutinizes Andrew and possibly Lamont County Village of Andrew to learn results of municipal inspection
Andrew Interim CAO Ken Glover
BY JANA SEMENIUK Andrew residents will finally learn what is inside a municipal inspection report that was conducted on the Village last year. Interim chief administrative officer Ken Glover announced during the Jan. 31 council meeting that representatives from Municipal Affairs will be attending the Feb. 28 council meeting to ‘give their perspective on the ministerial review’. It was nearly one year ago when the Andrew council voted to undergo a municipal inspection during their Mar.
8, 2023 council meeting. Councillor Merwin Haight, who was mayor then, said the council ‘believes that this municipal inspection will help provide a well-managed collaborative and accountable local government to the people in the village of Andrew’. At the time, the office of the Minister of Municipal Affairs said fewer than 10 complaints had been received regarding the Village of Andrew over the previous year from concerned citizens. The inspection was completed within several months and while the inspection report has not been made
public yet, Glover said council has already completed some of the required actions noted in the review. “We've responded to the Ministerial Review, taken actions and completing things like our 2022 audit and council registering themselves in Muni 101,” he said. “(I’m) not sure what's going to be in that presentation, but they wanted an opportunity and it will be open for the public.” The next village council meetings are scheduled for Feb. 14 and Feb. 28, both at 7 p.m.
Hard work results in a reported 900 names on petition for municipal inspection of County BY JANA SEMENIUK A petition calling for a municipal inspection into the governance of Lamont County was completed on the 60-day deadline of Feb. 12, surpassing the number of signatures required. Lamont County residents Sylvia Holowach and Sada Gagnon spearheaded the organized effort, needing 778 signatures, 20 percent of the county’s population, and reported on their social media that they collected 900. “The petition calling for a Municipal Inspection was delivered to and received by three wonderful representatives of Municipal Affairs this morning,” stated the post. “We have done all we can and the
rest is now up to them. The petition, handed in today, contained 900 signatures.” According to the Municipal Governance Act, the reviewer must make a declaration within 45 days after the petition is filed to the council or the Minster on whether or not the petition is sufficient. The petition began in Dec. with a meeting attended by approximately 40 ratepayers in Lamont. Both Gagnon and Holowach spoke at the meeting and shared their concerns about the way the county is being run, which included inflated staffing costs, dishonesty and unwelcome proposed changes to the Land Use Bylaw.
In response to the allegations, Lamont County Reeve David Diduck submitted a letter to the editor in the Jan. 17 edition of the Lamont Leader disputing the claims.