Council and Committee meetings are where Council and members of the public conduct the municipality's business. The Village of Lions Bay believes in open and accessible government and invites and encourages members of the public to attend meetings, open houses, Have-Your-Says and other public input sessions.
Other than in-person, there are several options for providing input to Council:
Individuals and groups may appear as a Delegation before Council to submit a request for action, register a complaint, or provide updates or information to Council on any issue, project, or program within the purview of Council as determined by the Corporate Officer. Delegations may present for up to 10 minutes. A Delegation Request Form must be submitted prior to noon on the Thursday prior to a Regular Meeting of Council. The form can be delivered through the Village Office mail slot or via e-mail.
At the beginning of each Council meeting, time is allotted to provide members of the public to ask questions or make comments on any topic for up to two minutes. No pre-registration is required. The time permitted by Bylaw for this part of the meeting is 10 minutes, but Council tends to extend this time in order to hear from all.
At the end of each Council meeting agenda is a Public Question and Comments period for members of the public to address Council on any matter that was discussed at that Meeting for two minutes.
For a letter or e-mail to be placed on an agenda it must be received at the Office by noon on the Thursday prior to the Council meeting.
Letters must be addressed Council, and mailed to "Council of the Village of Lions Bay, 141-400 Centre Road, Lions Bay, BC V0N 2E0," or faxed to +1(604) 921 6643, or e-mailed to council@lionsbay.ca (please note that current Council policy dictates that the only members of this group email address are the five members of Council, so it requires one or more of them to forward the email to staff for inclusion on an agenda).
Correspondence submitted to Council is subject to the Village's Correspondence Policy No. 1405. Personal and identifying information is subject to the Freedom of Information and Privacy Protection Act and will be redacted prior to appearing in public. Correspondence to Council must be approved by the Corporate Officer against this policy, and may be omitted from the agenda, for reasons including but not limited to:
- Staff may be preparing a report relating to the topic, and the correspondence will be placed on the same agenda as the staff report
- Concerns may be better addressed by a Committee and will be so directed by the Corporate Officer
- Correspondence may encompass confidential issues
- Correspondence is determined to be defamatory or vexatious.
If any of these circumstances occur, the Corporate Officer or delegate will provide further detail.