WINDSOR, N.S. – Both Windsor and West Hants councillors say they want to work more closely together, but at the most recent Joint Council session in Windsor, it was clear that exactly how that’s going to happen remains up in the air.
Following a presentation from the Valley Regional Enterprise Network’s new CEO Deborah Dennis, councillors from both West Hants and Windsor dove head first into figuring out what exactly they’re trying to achieve with joint council and whether or not it’s actually working.
“Whether we pick specific topics like economic development, tourism, recreation, whatever it may be, and focus on those areas, we need to structure it so we’re more productive,” West Hants coun. Jennifer Daniels said during the joint council meeting on June 28.
She added that she would like to see joint council have ‘more teeth’ in its ability to get things done.
Currently, nothing gets officially passed at joint council, recommendations are brought back to the two individual councils, where they can choose to either ratify the recommendations or not.
In the past this has lead to decisions being agreed upon at joint council, such as the Windsor Arena Project, and then either thrown out or altered when they return to their regular council meetings.
Daniels also said that the name joint council itself needs a change, suggesting something catchier, such as Avon Regional Council.
West Hants coun. Rupert Jannasch said those recommendations often fall through because the discussion at joint council isn’t thorough enough and more information is revealed by the time both councils return to their own chambers.
“I don’t think we necessarily have to come up with motions and decisions at every meeting,” he said.
Joint Committee of the Whole?
The idea of a joint committee of the whole, rather than council, was discussed as a solution.
Windsor Mayor Anna Allen said one obvious arena both councils could and should work more closely together on is planning – with both units needing a planning review in the near future.
“We both having planning issues, which we overlap on all the time, so maybe that’s a good starting point,” Allen said. “Maybe we should start making some planning decisions together that are common threads.”
West Hants coun. Paul Morton said he was fed up with the current system and is eager for a change.
“I’m tired of coming to these meetings, talking about everything and doing nothing,” Morton said. “It drives me crazy.”
West Hants Warden Abraham Zebian agreed, saying it’s time to stop grasping for topics and sink their teeth into real issues.
“We have two really big units here, and I think it’s time to start aligning things,” Zebian said.
Still, as Windsor coun. John Bregante pointed out, this iteration of joint council has gone much more smoothly than during the previous administration, when joint council was abruptly ended following a standoff on several issues between the two municipal units.
“I’ve seen more trust in this room than I saw in previous joint councils,” Bregante said. “This group in this room are willing to talk and willing to work together as a group.”
“This might seem like baby steps right now, but to me, they seem like giant steps,” he added.
In an effort to build trust between the two councils, Mayor Anna Allen suggested everyone work together on a combined Windsor-West Hants float for the Avon River Days parade in August.
The two chief administrative officers now have a tough task ahead – try to decipher everything that was discussed at joint council and come up with a new model or system of how joint council or joint committee of the whole could work in the future.
Recommendations from both councillors included – picking priorities ahead of time, switching to a joint committee of the whole structure, finding out a frequency of meetings that makes sense and focusing on issues of regional importance.
This comes at a time when the two units are currently endeavouring to change how they’re governed, via municipal modernization, an initiative backed by the province.
It was discussed amongst most of the councillors from both units during a workshop at the Cedar Centre in Windsor on June 16 and five key points were brought up needing to be addressed, including: fire, trust, planning, messaging and joint council.
