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1.0 PURPOSE
STANDARDS FOR RECORDED MINUTES
To establish standards which will provide transparency and accountability of the Town's
TOWN OF KENTVILLE POLICY STATEMENT G3O
THE
"CORPORATE,
STANDARDS FOR RECORDED MINUTES
business, and will inform the council and committee members, stakeholders and the
Meeting Preparation
general public of the evolution of decisions that affect them.
TH. DEC. 188°
2.0 SCOPE
MAGNA E PARTY
For use by all Recording Secretaries who record, prepare and/or archive minutes for
Town Council meetings or for its Committees, Commissions and Boards.
3.0 PROCEDURES
## The Town of Kentville will establish a Policy and Standard Operating Procedures that will ensure that informative, accurate and concise records (both printed and audio) are
prepared and archived for use by members of Town staff, council and committees, the
general public or for litigators. (Authority -- Part 20 - Freedom of Information and
necessary to preserve the historical record of any officially convened meeting of a decision-making body of the Town.
Parliamentary Procedure
and boards, unless contrary to Town bylaws. (Authority- Policy G-11 -- Parliamentary
Procedure.)
In Camera meetings can be held for the purpose of discussion on land acquisition and disposition, personnel issues, labour relations, contract negotiations, litigation, legal advice or matters of public security. These are closed to the public; decisions are not made, except as permitted by the MGA s.22(3), nor are minutes kept. However, a record must be kept indicating the meeting time, date and the issue(s) discussed, in accordance with the Municipal Government Act, Part 1 - The Municipality, Section 22.
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1)
Town of Kentville, Policy G30: Standards for Recorded Minutes
(a) become familiar with basic parliamentary procedure, the issues on the
2.
Audio Recording
agenda, the mandate of the group, and the names of the meeting
- that allows for interaction during the meeting (i.e. Agree how this should be done- i.e. speaking up, passing a note, or scrutiny or for litigation;
motion,
(ii)
- seconder identified when a motion is being recorded in the minutes; (iii) archive and code the audio record in an electronic file;
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- (c) forward to the meeting participants, either electronically or in printed ormat, copies of the agenda, minutes to be approved, reports,
- (e) prepare an audio file for the meeting when possible;
(iv) keep an audio record until the minutes have been officially
Town of Kentville, Policy G30: Standards for Recorded Minutes
approved;
The minutes of all meetings must
- (a) focus on the key points and decisions, not on every word spoken, unless
(b) focus on the business at hand and exclude any extracurricular exchange of
information or gossip;
- (c) focus on the group as a whole, not on individual opinions. Comments should not be attributed to any individual. (Some committees may decide not
- to identify the mover or seconder of proposed motions); (a) be objective and free of offensive or inappropriate language, subjective
- interpretations of mood or the tone in which comments were made; (e) be written in past tense as this is an historical record;
- (f) be consistent throughout all departments, sharing the same general look ana style, and complying with content ana tormat standaras;
- (g) reflect the professionalism of the Town, by being free of typographical,
grammatical or technical errors;
- (h) be readable - clearly laid out, visually appealing and easy to read, with concise, point-form summaries, when applicable.
- (i) flow logically (relate to the approved agenda) even if the meeting itself had been fragmented and confusing;
- (i) be easy to archive and retrieve. Logical code names must be given to each set of Minutes, along with a reference code to each report or document
forming part of that meeting.;
- (k) be backed up electronically in a safe and secure environment;
- (I) be transcribed from the audio record (or written notes) as soon after the meeting as possible, with a draft copy sent to the meeting participants at least one week previous to the next meeting;
4.
Town of Kentville, Policy G30: Standards for Recorded Minutes
(m) be archived (in printed format with original supporting documents) in the
Town's vault, in a binder specifically for that purpose and filed chronologically,
- (n) be posted on the Town's webpage; Specific Content of Minutes
The minutes of each Town meeting must contain:
(b) a footer on each page with the page number and other notations, as
applicable;
- (c) in addition to new business, the name of the meeting and of those
- agenda, any changes to the previous minutes, public comments and the
time of adjournment;
- (d) the name of the recording secretary, and if different, also the name of the transcribing secretary; (e) a supplementary list of names of those members present in the audience
(if required);
- (f) a brief introduction (where applicable) to each agenda item, to provide
- (g) (where applicable) Points from Discussion, to support the full scope of
- discussion nor vote on the issue in conflict);
- (i) motions, resolutions and decisions with unanimous consent, as per the
following standards;
the count, and a declaration of the elected individual. (A motion to destroy
Town of Kentville, Policy G30: Standards for Recorded Minutes
the ballots would be in order if voting took place by secret ballot;
(a) Urge meeting participants to prepare and distribute lengthy or complex motions in advance. (for correct wording and to allow for prepared
minutes;
- (d) Record the number voting in favour and against, if the vote is close;
ambiguous;
- (g) Record substantive (contentious) amendments separately; record both the
- (h) Formal resolutions should be clearly written, with the "resolved clause"
"whereas clauses";
- (i) Record individual votes in the minutes, when requested. (Authority - Policy
Approval of the Minutes
- prior to the meeting, to allow for editing of housekeeping errors (i.e. name
- substantive errors at the next meeting. (These errors would include incorrectly recorded decisions, motions, discussion summaries, etc.)
(c) Meeting participants can ask to review the audio record, or reach an
Town of Kentville, Policy G30: Standards for Recorded Minutes
Archiving Meeting Information
agreement through their collective memories, if accuracy is debatable;
meetings must be archived indefinitely and carefully preserved in a secure and
- (a) Printed copies of the agenda, minutes and supporting documents for the
amendments;
- (g) Make the approved amendments in the applicable minutes; the meeting must also be coded with logical code names and saved in
appropriate folders;
- (i) Destroy all draft copies of the minutes; (c) Electronic copies of the agenda and minutes must be posted on the Town's webpage;
not approved;
5.0 POLICY REVISION HISTORY
Town of Kentville, Policy G30: Standards for Recorded Minutes
4.0 ASSOCIATED DOCUMENTS
None
Date Created:
Revisions:
September 10, 2008
April 29, 2013