Kincardine council holding public meeting Oct. 27 to determine future of Bruce Telecom

Kincardine is holding a public meeting Thursday, Oct. 27, at 7 p.m. at the Davidson Centre in Kincardine to share information and receive input on a proposed new governance model for the municipally-owned Bruce Telecom business.

Currently, Bruce Telecom is managed as a municipal services board, pursuant to the Ontario Municipal Act, states a press release, issued by chief administrative officer Murray Clarke. As such, the business may be considered, in a sense, as a modified department of the municipality.

While the affairs of the business are overseen by an appointed board of directors and managed by a team of senior managers, there are statutory limitations that constrain a municipal services board in terms of its activities, planning, conduct of meetings and financial management, states Clarke.

Council is proposing to convert the business to a municipal services corporation, pursuant to the Municipal Act. The business would be established as a company under the Corporations Act, solely owned by the Municipality of Kincardine. A new board of directors would be appointed to work with the management team, with a mandate to develop the business and maximize its potential for the benefit of the Kincardine and its taxpayers.

With a municipal services corporation model, there would be increased flexibility to manage the business in the highly-competitive telecommunications sector, including leveraging capital for infrastructure investment, while remaining fully accountable to the municipality as sole owner, states Clarke.

Presentations at the public meeting will expand on the challenges associated with the status quo, and the opportunities that would be realized with the new structure and governance model, and will include elements of a business case study to support the conversion from government department to a corporation.

The meeting will include the opportunity to provide input and to ask questions to ensure a full and complete examination into the merits of this initiative.

As a background note, this is an important step in council’s determination to retain ownership of Bruce Telecom.