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Mayor cracks gavel after councillor refuses to second motion

By Heather Ramsay-A bylaw allowing Queen Charlotte council to create an advisory planning commission to help renew and review the official community plan is frozen in first reading.
At the April 3 meeting councillor Kris Olsen would not second the motion to bring the bylaw to second reading.
Mr. Olsen refused to put the motion on the floor at the March 15 council meeting as well. Councillor Greg Martin was away, but with councillors Eric Ross and Gladys Noddin present, the motion was made and seconded.
Now Mr. Ross and Ms Noddin are both away for medical reasons and Mr. Olsen stated, as he did at the last council meeting, that he wanted the whole council to meet to discuss the bylaw before he could support it.
"There are a couple of things I don't like on it and I'm not ready yet until everyone is here," he said.
At this mayor Carol Kulesha cracked her gavel onto the table to move the meeting on. Unless a motion is made and seconded, no discussion or amendments to a bylaw can take place, she said.
The bylaw must pass three readings before it is enacted into law. She said council members met several weeks ago and wanted to find a way to bring more public input into the land use planning and zoning process.
Mr. Olsen missed this meeting and found out about the advisory planning commission for the first time at the March 15 meeting.
Ms Kulesha said after the meeting that he has been given the opportunity to inform himself about the process since then. Mr. Olsen missed a recent meeting with administrator Andrew Yeates to go over the bylaw.
The advisory planning commission, made up of five volunteers, is meant to bring a broader base of knowledge to the planning process.
"It's a nice extension of democracy. It gets more brains together," said Mr. Martin when a member of the public asked about the planning process at the end of the meeting, and thus allowing further discussion on the topic.
Ms Kulesha said although two councillors are away, the village can continue to function with the three remaining council members.
"Town business can still move forward," she said.
She is looking forward to seeing Mr. Ross and Ms Noddin at the end of this month.