MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY – Mountain View County council has given first reading to a proposed bylaw that would make advertising of statutory notices on the county’s website the primary means of resident notification.
The move came during the recent regularly scheduled council meeting, held by teleconference.
Changes to the provincial Municipal Government Act allow municipalities to pass an advertising bylaw to enable municipalities to develop an alternative means of accomplishing the historical advertising requirements under the act, council heard.
In the past the county has notified residents of bylaws, resolutions, meeting, public hearings and other actions through the newspaper and by mail or delivery to residences.
“Mountain View County continues to push information through both an electronic format, typically the county’s website, as well as through the newspaper,” said Chris Atchison, director of legislative service.
“However, administration has identified challenges in the past dealing with conflicting timelines for governance proceedings and paper deadlines. Further, as the county’s website continues to receive increased visits, it has become a more viable means of providing information to residents.”
Passing advertising bylaw No. 09/20 would have a number of benefits, including “more efficient means of providing information to residents in a timely manner,” he said.
It is administration’s recommendation that messaging still occur in the newspaper wherever possible as is the current practice, “however the primary means of providing notice, and thereby also the means of ‘starting the clock’ on many statutory timelines, would be through the corporate website,” he said.
Administration believes that although there may be limited connectivity in some locations in the county, there are means of accessing the information such as local libraries or public wireless internet locations for residents attempting to access the information, he said.
“As the newspaper will continue to be utilized as a secondary means of notification wherever possible, residents will still receive information through that means,” he said.
The proposed bylaw reads, in part, that the county will advertise statutory notices on the county’s website, and “may also choose to advertise” by other means, including in newspapers.
The public hearing for the new bylaw is scheduled for June 10. Under new regulations recently approved by council, that hearing can be held via teleconference.
