Elk Point Town Council selects committees for 2020

Image: Terri Hampson sworn in as Deputy Mayor of Elk Point by Town CAO Ken Gworzdz

New Deputy Mayor

On October 28, Terri Hampson was sworn in as Elk Point’s Deputy Mayor, effective November 1. Councillors chose to take turns in the position, with Dwayne Yaremkevich serving in the first year of this term, Debra McQuinn just finishing her year, and Tim Smereka to take on the role for the fourth year of this council.

 

Annual Organizational Meeting

At Elk Point Town Council’s Organizational Meeting on October 28 councillors determined who would represent the Town on boards and committees. Councillors discussed how to distribute the responsibilities fairly while balancing family and fulltime jobs.

While Council members made the choice to run and have been elected to serve the residents, to attend meetings and conferences they often must give up their vacation time or time with their families. So, while determining representatives for boards and committees, they took into consideration who is available to attend the meetings at the set times and locations as well as who is interested, has the training, or has the knowledge.

Councillor Smereka pointed out that each councillor is paid whenever they attend a meeting as a representative of the town. Often, their only function is to gather information. He suggests that if a committee has a serious concern it would be more effective, efficient and economical for a delegation to present to the entire council than to have the issue brought back to council by one representative.

Councillor McQuinn wondered if council should have a representative on every board that they support so that there is oversight regarding financial decisions, but the consensus was that it’s not necessary.

 

Representatives from council were selected as follows:

 

Board/Committee	Councillor
Standing Committees
Executive Committee	Whole Council
Public Works Committee	Whole Council
Economic Development	Whole Council
Public Safety/Environment Committee	Whole Council
Health Care Professional Recruitment	Mayor
Risk Management Committee	Whole Council
Emergency Services Committee	Whole Council
Legal Bodies, Boards and Commissions
Agricultural Society	Smereka
Alberta Care	Hampson
Allied Arts	McQuinn
Chamber of Commerce	Hampson
Canada Day Committee	McQuinn & Smereka
Community Futures Smoky Lake-St.Paul	McQuinn
Community Policing Committee	Yaremkevich & Hampson
Development Appeal Board	Hampson
Economic Development Committee	Smereka
Elk Point Golf Club	Yaremkevich
Evergreen Regional Waste Management Committee	McQuinn (alt. Hampson)

 

F.C.S.S.	Hampson
Fire Board	McQuinn, Young, Gwozdz
Interagency Health Committee	Young
Lakeland DMO	Hampson
M.D. of St. Paul Foundation Board	Young & Yaremkevich
Muni Corr	Yaremkevich (alt. McQuinn)
Municipal Airport Authority	Young & McQuinn
Municipal Health and Safety	Smereka
Municipal Library Board	McQuinn & Smereka
Municipal Planning Commission	all council (except Hampson)
Northeast Alberta Information Hub	Hampson
Northern Lights Library System Board	McQuinn
Regional Assessment Board	Dick Millar
Recreation Committee	McQuinn & Smereka
Regional Health and Safety Committee	Smereka
Regional Tourism Committee	Hampson
Regional Water Commission	Young, Yaremkevich, Hampson
Regional Emergency Committee	Young, Yaremkevich, Smereka