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The Village of Belledune has made a few changes to the structure, mandate and operating procedure of council committees.

During the mayor's report at the July 7 regular public meeting of village council, Mayor Nick Duivenvoorden proposed four changes to the three committees (Tourism, Leisure and Active Living and Economic Development) that currently serve the village. All were accepted and approved by council in a subsequent motion.

The first was eliminating the need for a council representative on each committee. Mayor Duivenvoorden said the idea of this is to allow more independence.

"I think we might have more thought-provoking discussions, knowing that there is no representative from council there. It takes away the thought that they were a bit muzzled and it makes them more independent."

With no council representation on the committees, the second recommendation was that the committees report to the village on a quarterly basis. The mayor said the committee members receive a small remuneration for their committee work and the report to council is an accountability measure.

The third point was to have a committee or committees recognize new residents or businesses to the area on an annual basis.

"You need to on an annual basis recognize those people and make sure they feel welcome in your community," said Mayor Duivenvoorden.

The final recommendation was to have a committee to handle disaster relief for residents or businesses which have suffered severe hardships.