Village employee Rick Martin has been named the municipality’s approving officer. Council formally appointed Martin, Burns Lake’s director of public works, as its approving officer May 26. As such, he will be responsible for ensuring that any subdivisions of land within the municipality are completed in accordance with local bylaws as well as provincial statutes and regulations.
Council also designated Chief Administrative Officer Sheryl Worthing as the village’s deputy approving officer.
The appointments were made in response to a memorandum from Worthing indicating that while the position of approving officer has been designated under the Village of Burns Lake Officers & Employees Bylaw #908, 2010 – and section 77 of the provincial Land Title Act requires that council appoint an approving officer – it had not been formally filled.
Worthing added in the memo that “past practice has been that the employee holding the position of director of public works acts as the approving officer so as not to incur additional costs by contracting out.” She noted that adding the deputy approving officer position will ensure that “approvals can happen in a timely matter in case the officer is absent.”
The May 26 appointments won’t have an immediate financial, legal, or other impact on municipal operations. It’s been some time since the municipality received any subdivisions requests.