HAY RIVER - No one grabbed pitchforks and torches and headed to Town Hall, but there was plenty of frustration and even anger expressed at the first public meeting of the newly-created Hay River Ratepayers Association.

About 35 people turned out for the Dec. 15 meeting with a litany of complaints against their municipal government including lack of consultation, rising taxes, unpopular bylaws, a lack of respect to residents and much more.

Beatrice Lepine, a former councillor, said some members of the current council are "asleep at the switch" and not even reading information on bylaws they vote on.

"It's a little rubber-stamp organization," she said, adding an association of ratepayers is a good step towards accountability.

Warren Gibb said he doesn't see any co-operation between council and town administration.

"I see businesspeople and residents getting frustrated in dealing with the town," he said, adding he is worried about the community. "I think we're in a horrible state."

Gibb said the economy is declining and there is a communication problem with the town, where council is "willy-nilly" making decisions without informing the public.

The ratepayers' association has already been registered as a society by five Hay River residents - Hay River South MLA Jane Groenewegen, Brian Lefebvre, Kandis Jameson, former councillor Sandra Lester and Bernie Langille, who is currently sitting on town council.

"We're here tonight to put together the association to represent the ratepayers and to address the issues of concern related to municipal services and taxation, and then we'll strive to improve the communication, accountability and transparency of our municipal government," said Lefebvre.

Groenewegen said, while she has helped launch the organization, she will not be involved in the future.

"I see, in my role as MLA, that there may come a point in time where I may need to respond to the ratepayers' association in some fashion or may need to respond to the town in some fashion," she said.

Groenewegen said there seems to be a lack of understanding of proper process by the current mayor and council.

"Do we have some serious dysfunction? Yes, we do. Is it affecting our community negatively? Yes, it is. That's why, in a very positive way, we need to come together to bring some order and some straightening out of that situation," she said.

The organizers requested feedback on how the association should be structured.

One issue to arise was eligibility to be a voting member.

Harvey Werner, a retiree living in seniors' housing, argued seniors should be eligible to be full voting members even if they no longer pay municipal taxes.

"I think they've paid their dues over the years," Werner said.

However, Lester said people have to understand the association is for ratepayers.

"I can't belong to an engineers' association, because I'm not an engineer," she said.

Non-ratepayers will be able to join as associate members without voting privileges.

An annual general meeting and elections for an executive may be held in January.

Lefebvre said the new association has also extended an invitation to the Hay River Corridor Group, which represents people in Paradise Valley and along Highway 2, to amalgamate into one group.

When contacted by News/North, Deputy Mayor Mike Maher welcomed the new group.

"I'm very encouraged by the forming of a ratepayers' association," he said, noting town council feels at times like it's in a bubble. "You want to get input."

Maher said it will be nice to have a group with which council can sit down and discuss things.

The deputy mayor was not surprised to hear there was a lot of criticism directed at council during the Dec. 15 meeting.

"We're in a tough economic time right now," he said. "People are frustrated. I can fully understand that."

Maher said council is always going to be a lightning rod for criticism about things that happen in the community.

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