| | Public hearings are your chance to share your opinions and views on specific topics with City Council. These hearings are open for anyone to speak at or to submit written comments to (before 12:00 PM the Monday before the hearing). Learn more about what a Public Hearing is, what happens at a Public Hearing, and how you can participate.
When a Public Hearing is required by provincial legislation, notice of the Public Hearing must be given. During the Public Hearing Council must hear any person or group claiming to be affected, and may hear any other person who wishes to speak. Public Hearings are required before the second reading of many different Bylaws. These include Road Closure Bylaws, Charter Bylaws, Brownfield Tax Incentive Bylaws, Clean Energy Improvement Tax Bylaws, and Planning Bylaws.
A Public Hearing is also required before a municipality passes a resolution authorizing the municipaliy to control a corporation, to enter into a brownfield tax exemption agreement, or to change the designation of reserved land or dispose of the land by sale or lease.
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| | All meetings of City Council and its Standing Policy Committees are established during Council's annual Organizational Meeting, where Council adopts their annual meeting calendar.
View the full Council Calendar.
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| | The Organizational Meeting is a public meeting that occurs annually as mandated by the Municipal Government Act (MGA). Councillors are assigned roles on committees and other bodies, select both a Deputy Mayor and Acting Mayor, review pertinent policies, select meeting times, and make any other relevant organizational decisions for the year. The meeting must occur no later 2 weeks after the 3rd Monday in October.
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| | According to provincial legislation, 24-hour notice must be given to the public regarding any changes to a regular meeting of Council (date, time, location), otherwise, notice for a Regular Meeting of Council does not need to be given. City Council Meetings are held in Council Chambers at City Hall commencing at 12:30 p.m. and are open to the public unless Council moves into a closed meeting in accordance with The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Additionally, the City of Lethbridge Procedure Bylaw allows for changes to be made outside of these provisions if advertised on the City's website, advising local media, posting on City social media, and utilizing other reasonable means of notification (see section 67-68). To see a schedule of regular Council meetings for the year click here.
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| | The Mayor may call a special meeting with a specific purpose if the Mayor considers it appropriate to do so, or if requested by a majority of Councillors. A special council meeting must be held within 14 days after the date of request. The meeting is called by giving at least 24 hours’ notice in writing to each Councillor and the public stating the purpose of the meeting and the date, time and place at which it is to be held. Less than 24 hours’ notice to Council (and no notice to the public) is acceptable if at least 2/3 of the whole Council agrees to this in writing before the beginning of the meeting. No matter other than that stated in the notice may be transacted at the meeting unless the whole Council is present at the meeting and the Council agrees to deal with the matter in question.
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| | Standing Policy Committee Meetings shall be held in Council Chambers, commencing at 1:30 p.m. on the dates posted in the Council Calendar unless the municipality gives at least 24 hours' notice of a change to the members of the committee, and to the public.
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| | Meetings of any Board, Commission, or Committee excluding Standing Policy Committees will be set by each specific Board, Commission, or Committee, open to the public, and the dates, times and locations will be advertised here. All Boards, Commissions, and Committees, excluding Standing Policy Committees, must give a minimum of 24 hours' notice to its Members and to the public prior to a Meeting.
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| | These notices are to inform the public of bylaws that will authorize the City Council to incur indebtedness/borrow funds from the Government of Alberta or another authorized financial institution to finance the items outlined in the corresponding Bylaws.
For the purposes of the Municipal Government Act, sections 251 and 231(3), the following bylaws were last advertised on August 13, 2022. Anyone wishing to file a petition with respect to a Borrowing Bylaw, please Click Here.
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| | Each municipality must publish a notice that the assessment notices have been sent. Our Tax and Assessment department provides notices to the public to ensure that taxpayers are aware of assessments, tax deadlines, distribution of tax notices, and Public Auctions on properties. For Information about the mailing of 2022 Assessment Notices and Appeal Process, click here.
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| | A municipality must advertise a public auction when selling a property from the tax arrears list. The notice must specify the date, time and location of the public auction, the conditions of sale, and a description of each parcel of land to be offered for sale. |
| | Recently-issued development permits for discretionary uses and for waivers of regulations. This public notice is in addition to the official public notice in the Saturday issue of the Lethbridge Herald. Any affected person objecting to these permits has the right to appeal the decision within a specified period. Appeal procedures are explained in each notice. Click here for more information about the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board. |
| | Proposals to be considered by the Municipal Planning Commission at its next meeting. Any affected person has the right to appear before and provide input to the Commission. Meeting date, time, location and procedures are explained in each notice. Any affected person objecting to these permits has the right to appeal the decision within a specified period. Appeal procedures are explained in each notice. Click here for more information about the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board.
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| | Applications to be considered by Council at the next Public Hearing. Any affected person has the right to appear before and provide input to Council. Meeting date, time, location and procedures are explained in each notice. Notices are available for review here. Any affected person objecting to these permits has the right to appeal the decision within a specified period. Appeal procedures are explained in each notice. Click here for more information about the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board.
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| | A municipality must give reasonable notice of its intention to discontinue provision of a municipal utility service.
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| | The City has 45 days after receipt of a Recall Petition to determine whether the petition is sufficient. If the petition is sufficient, the municipality must publish the declaration of sufficiency on the municipality's website.
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| | Most petitions to Council or to the Minister of Municipal Affairs do not need to be published as a notification to the public. However, provincial legislation dictates that a Notice of a Recall Petition must be published on the municipality's public website within 7 days from the date which the notice is determined eligible under legislation. For general information on petitions, click here.
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| | A Member of Council may submit a Notice of Motion to the City Clerk for inclusion on an Agenda, such Notice of Motion should contain the date of the Regular Council Meeting the Member wishes it to be brought forward for debate. If a Notice of Motion does not contain a date, it will be removed from the Agenda after four (4) months. While the notice does not have to be publicized, the City can publish these on the website.
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| | Bylaws required to be advertised by the muniipality under provincial legislation include a Road Closure Bylaw, Borrowing Bylaw, Loan Bylaw, Guarantee Bylaw, and Local Improvement Tax Bylaw- Municipality's share of the cost, Off-Site Levy Bylaw, and a Bylaw for Changes to Environmental Reserve.
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| | The City of Lethbridge has applied to Alberta Environment Parks for an amendment to the existing approval to construct, operate, and reclaim the proposed Class 1 compost facility. The notice can be found here.
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