Record of Council and Committee Proceedings Procedure

Purpose statement

This procedure defines the recording, access and retention of text based minutes, video and or audio records of the Corporation of the Town of Oakville (town) Council and Committee meetings.

Scope

This procedure applies to Members of Council, town employees and the general public. The text based minutes kept of such meetings constitute the official record in accordance with the Municipal Act, 2001. Audio and video recordings of Council meetings do not constitute an official record.

Procedure

Recording of Council or Committee Meetings

1. Meetings of Council, Planning and Development Council, the Committee of the Whole, and the Standing Committees of Council will be recorded in a text base format, in the form of minutes, and may also be audio or video recorded;
2. Other Town of Oakville meetings may be audio and or video recorded as deemed necessary, at the discretion of the Mayor and the Town Clerk.

Access to the record of proceedings

1. Other Town of Oakville meetings may be audio and or video recorded as deemed necessary, at the discretion of the Mayor and the Town Clerk;
2. Audio and or video records of Council proceedings are recorded as a convenience;
3. Minutes in a text based format, being the official record of Council meetings will be made available to the public on the town website;
4. Audio and/or video recorded meetings not available on the town website will be provided to Members of Council upon request, and the public may purchase a digital copy from the Clerk’s department;
5. The Clerk’s department will not provide transcripts of meetings;

Retention

The audio and video record of Council proceedings shall be retained in accordance with the Records Retention By-law. The text based minutes shall be retained in accordance with the Municipal Act.

Responsibilities

1. The Town Clerk shall be responsible for maintaining all records of Council and Committee meetings.

2. The Information Systems department in coordination with the Clerk’s department shall be responsible for setting up any equipment required for recording Council and Committee proceedings.