THE Derwent Valley Council’s annual general meeting will be held this Thursday evening (Thursday), in the New Norfolk Courthouse at 5.30pm. The agenda documents and annual report can be downloaded from the council website, or obtained in hardcopy from the council chambers.
The AGM will receive reports from the mayor and general manager and will seek support to note the annual report for 2018-19. The meeting also is an opportunity to ask questions about the council’s activities over the last financial year and to propose motions from the floor. If carried by the majority of the voters present, these motions must be considered at the next council meeting.
Councillors last month approved amended the meeting procedures for annual general meetings, in particular to allow councillors to vote on motions proposed from the public gallery. The council’s long-term practice was that councillors did not vote on these motions as they had the final say at the next formal council meeting.
Contrary to this past practice, the last two AGMs saw councillors use their numbers to defeat motions of no-confidence in the council. The new procedures also enable councillors to put motions of their own at the AGM, which was not previously done.
Voters at last year’s AGM refused to endorse the minutes of the previous years’ AGM and declined to note the annual report for 2017-18. After a contentious vote, a motion of no-confidence in the council was narrowly defeated.
The December council meeting will also be held on Thursday night, starting at 6pm. This will be followed by a closed council meeting to consider tenders for the footpath replacement program and the closed senior management report. The council has also moved discussion of “councillor requests for leave” from open council meetings into closed meetings.
