The Municipal Council is the legislative and governing body for the Municipality. Council makes decisions by resolution, by policy, or by by-law. Some of the areas often requiring decision or legislation by Council are the provision of fundamental services like:
- Fire protection services
- Solid waste collection
- Parks and recreation areas/community centres
- Wastewater treatment
- Streets and sidewalks (including snow removal and parking enforcement)
- Economic Development
- Communities, Culture, Tourism, Heritage
- Animal control
- Building and fire code inspection
- Public Transit
- Zoning and land use planning
Council is responsible for making decisions that best serve the interests of the residents of the Municipality.
The Council is made of seven councillors, each elected as the representative by and for the residents in a specific district. Elections take place every four years. Council meetings are lead by the Warden or, in his absence, the Deputy Warden.
Meetings
- Meetings are held twice a month
- On the second Thursday of the month Council meets at 5:00 pm and on the fourth Wednesday of the month the meeting happens at 6:00 pm, both in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building in Hebron
- The public is welcome and details of agenda and schedule are available by contacting the municipal office at 902-742-7159
- Organizations who wish to make a presentation before Council should contact Jenny Porter, Deputy Municipal Clerk at least two weeks before the meeting to be considered for addition to the Council meeting agenda
Regular Council Meetings are aired on EastLink Community TV the first Tuesday of the following month beginning at 9:00 p.m. and are also streamed live on the Municipality of the District of Yarmouth Facebook page.
Yarmouth's First Council
- After Nova Scotia passed legislation for municipal incorporation in 1879, the first Municipality of Yarmouth Council convened on January 13, 1880.
- Elected representatives from seven districts included Robert H. Rose, James E. Allen, James P. Lovitt, William H. Moody, Abram Hatfield, Edwin Crosby, and John A. Hatfield. W.H. Moody was chosen as Warden through a ballot, and Thomas B. Crosby, a former Clerk of the Peace, was unanimously elected Municipality Clerk.
- Initial tasks included appointing Committees for securing a Seal, drafting rules and by-laws, and inviting tenders from Tax Collectors.
- A significant concern was the construction of a railway connecting Nova Scotia towns and linking the province with Canada, promising improved communication, transportation, and economic opportunities.
- The Council saw the benefits of a railway, especially the proposed line from Yarmouth to Annapolis by the Western Counties Railway Company, initiated in 1870 but delayed by political challenges, reaching only Digby by autumn 1879.
- During the second Council meeting on February 3, 1880, it was decided that a representative from Yarmouth would join delegates from Digby and Halifax to discuss this railway issue in Ottawa.
- Many of the concerns addressed by the council 125 years ago remain relevant today.