Agricultural Service Board Bylaw, 2024 — full text

This is an automated transcription (OCR) of the captured official document — minor recognition errors are possible; the source document governs. Snapshot c22801f724c3 · verified 2026-06-08 · original document · archived snapshot · unofficial consolidation, the official version is held by the municipal clerk.

## BYLAW 2024, 01 AGRICULTURAL SERVICE BOARD BYLAW  A BYLAW OF THE MUNICIPAL DISTRICT OF RANCHLAND No. 66, IN THE PROVINCE OF ALBERTA, FOR THE PURPOSE OF ESTABLISHING AN AGRICULTURAL SERVICE BOARD. WHEREAS, the Agricultural Service Board Act, R.S.A. 2000, c. A-10 and amendments thereto, empowers a Council to establish an Agricultural Service Board; and WHEREAS, the Council of the Municipal District of Ranchland No. 66 has determined that it is in the best interests of the municipal district to pass such a Bylaw, THEREFORE, the Council of the Municipal District of Ranchland No. 66 duly assembled hereby enacts as follows: ## CITATION 1. This Bylaw shall be cited as the Agricultural Service Board Bylaw. ## ESTABLISHMENT AND NAME 2. This Bylaw hereby establishes and constitutes a Board to be known as the Municipal District of Ranchland Agricultural Service Board, hereinafter referred to as "the Board", to exercise the duties and powers and to perform the functions prescribed by this Bylaw and outlined in the Agricultural Service Board Act (ASB). ## DEFINITIONS 3. In this Bylaw, including this section: - a) "M.D." means the Municipal District of Ranchland No. 66. - b) "Council" means the Municipal Council of the M.D. - c) "Board" or "ASB" means the M.D. of Ranchland Agricultural Service Board. - d) "Member at large" means a person who is not a member of Council, and who has been considered to meet the conditions in s 3(3) or the ASB Act appointment by Council to sit on the Board. - e) "Candidate" means a person who is not a current member of Council, and who is not a current employee of the M.D., and who has put their name forward to Council seeking to be considered as meeting the conditions in s 3(3) of the ASB Act for appointment to the Board as a Member at large. - f) "Chair" means the position and title of Chairman, Chairwoman, Chairlady, or Chairperson of the Board; whichever one of these titles the appointed presider wishes to be addressed as. - g) "Vice-Chair" means the position and title of Vice-Chairman, Vice-Chairwoman, ViceChairlady, or Vice-Chairperson of the Board; whichever one of these titles the appointed vice-presider wishes to be addressed as. - h) "Agricultural Fieldman" means a qualified person appointed by council, in consultation with the board, to implement agricultural policies and programs and manage the agricultural resources of the municipality. - i) "Department" means the Ministry of Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation, or successive Ministry. - j) "Minister" means the Minister determined under s. 16 of the Government Organization Act, R.S.A. 2000, c. G-10, and amendments thereto, as the Minister responsible for the Agricultural Service Board Act. - k) "Pecuniary interest" means pecuniary interest as defined by the Municipal Government Act. - 1) "Landowner" means a person or corporation that owns titled land or is the holder of a Government of Alberta grazing lease disposition within the boundaries of the M.D. - m) "Resident" means a person who resides within the boundaries of the M.D. - n) "Shareholder" means a person who is a shareholder of a corporation that is a landowner. - o) "Scribe" means a person who assists the recording secretary by taking the draft minutes during a meeting.    ## ROLE AND DUTIES OF THE AGRICULTURAL SERVICE BOARD 4. The duties of the Board are listed in Section 2 of the Agricultural Service Board Act and at the time of the passing of this Bylaw those duties are: - a) to act as an advisory body and to assist the Council and the Minister, in matters of mutual concern, - b) to advise on and to help organize and direct weed and pest control and soil and water conservation programs, - c) to assist in the control of animal disease under the Animal Health Act, - d) to promote, enhance and protect viable and sustainable agriculture with a view to improving the economic viability of the agricultural producer, and - e) to promote and develop agricultural policies to meet the needs of the municipality. 5. The Board shall represent the municipality regarding agricultural issues presented at Provincial and Regional ASB conferences and committee meetings. 6. The Board shall also carry out all duties and responsibilities that may, from time to time, be assigned to it by Council. PAGE 2 OF 5 BYLAW 2024-01    ## AUTHORITY 7. The A.S.B. is a committee of Council, whose authority is limited to the ability to recommend action for Council's consideration. ## BOARD MEMBERSHIP 8. The Board shall be an independent committee consisting of up to eight (8) voting members as follows: - a) Up to five (5) Members at large, all of which shall be appointed by Council. - b) The three (3) elected Councillors of the M.D. ## BOARD MEMBER-AT-LARGE APPOINTMENTS 9. The appointment of the Members at large shall occur annually at the organizational meeting of Council, and the term of the appointment shall automatically expire at the next organizational meeting of Council. 10. If a Member at large ceases to be a member for any reason, Council may appoint a new candidate at any time of the year to fill the vacancy, however, such appointment shall automatically expire at the next organizational meeting of Council. ## CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIR 11. Council shall appoint the Chair at the annual organization meeting. At the first board meeting following the M.D. organizational meeting the board shall elect a Vice-Chair. 12. The Chair shall preside at the meetings of the Board. 13. The Vice-Chair shall preside at the meetings of the Board when the Chair is absent.    14. Only the Chair or the Vice-Chair can preside at a special Board meeting. 15. Council may revoke the appointment of a Board member as Chair or Vice-Chair and name a new Chair or Vice-Chair at any time should they believe it prudent to do so. ## QUORUM 17. One Council member and two Members at large, or two Council members and one Member at large constitutes a quorum. ## VOTING 18. A majority of votes is required to pass any resolution. 19. A Board member who has a pecuniary interest in the matter at hand must: - a) Disclose that they have a pecuniary interest and its general nature. - b) Abstain from any discussion of the matter and from voting. - c) Leave the room until the matter has been dealt with and ensure that their abstention is recorded in the minutes. 21. For any Board member(s) who is present and eligible to vote on a resolution, has not declared a pecuniary interest, and abstains from voting or otherwise refuses to vote, the voting allocation of that Board member(s) shall be considered a vote(s) against the resolution. 22. If an equal number of votes are cast for and against a resolution, the resolution shall be considered defeated. ## DUTIES OF THE SCRIBE 23. To assist the recording secretary by taking draft minutes at any regular or special meetings of the ASB. The Agricultural Fieldman may appoint any M.D. employee, that reports directly to the Agricultural Fieldman to fulfill the role of the Scribe. 24. If the role of the scribe is to be fulfilled by staff members, other than any of those staff members reporting to the Agricultural Fieldman, then consent must first be sought from that staff member's immediate supervisor.   ## DUTIES OF THE AGRICULTURAL FIELDMAN 25. The Agricultural Fieldman shall: - c) Implement agricultural policies and programs and manage the agricultural resources of the municipality. - d) Be the recording secretary of the board. The Agricultural Fieldman may appoint a designate to act on their behalf in their absence from any regular meeting of the board. - e) Only the Agricultural Fieldman may act as the recording secretary of any special meeting of the board. - f) Arrange for a date, time, and place for the regular and/or special meetings of the Board - g) Notify the ASB of all regular and/or special Board meetings a minimum of 72 hours prior to the meeting. A special Board meeting may be held with less than 72 hours prior notice if all members waive notice of the special meeting. - h) Any other duty as outlined in section. 8 of the Agricultural Service Board Act 26. The Agricultural Fieldman, appointed by Council pursuant to Section 8(1) of the Agricultural Service Board Act, RSA 2000, shall act as a designated officer of the Municipality; - a) in carrying out the functions, duties, and powers of the municipality under any Act relating to agriculture and; - b) in implementing projects respecting agricultural agreed on between the council and the Minister ## RESCINDING CLAUSE 27. BYLAW No. 2022-02 is hereby rescinded. This Bylaw shall have force and take effect on the third and final reading thereof. Read a first time on this 6th day of February 2024. Read a second time on this 6th day of February 2024. Read a third time and passed on this 6th day of February 2024 de Klut Semen