It would appear that as the Town of Athabasca’s council has gotten caught up in its own interpersonal issues, there have been some major and minor oversights in the daily-grind duties.
From trying to get an office credit card to figuring out how to work the television in chambers, the abrupt departure of the former chief administrative officer has left council floundering in attempts to manage the bare-bones office – a job it should not be doing.
This is in addition to its actual duties: creating policies and bylaws to give direction to administration.
The stress on the system is starting to show. The last council meeting created more stories than can fit within the pages of this newspaper.
The new pool project is an example of crumbled communications between councillors. At different points in time, each member of council has been a member. The minutes the Advocate obtained show some absences, but there is always a town presence at committee meetings. One town councillor still says he has not had access to enough information from the meetings as he did not have access to the minutes, while another says sufficient information has been brought back through council reports. It does not matter who is right – what matters is working together to make sure questions are asked clearly and information is passed on clearly as well.
The Athabasca Landing Trail bridge is just a small example of disconnect between the administration and the council. After directing administration to get outside services’ recommendation on July 19, council spoke about the bridge again and the local trail association’s request for funding for it on Sept. 20. Council tabled the motion again asking for more information. The publicly-available July 19 meeting minutes also state the motion was defeated; recordings from the meeting say otherwise. The initial letter was sent on June 24, three months ago.
If nothing else, the town needs a CAO to organize the paperwork behind these issues if it wants to be involved in regional decision making. The region’s wheels will continue to turn, with or without its informed input.
