Yep. Council exists IC, but the part players interact with has yet to be set up. Hopefully we'll have a shiny new forum for it soon.
Would the council have existed before Antares became a part of it? Or was it founded here? And if so, how big a thing would it have been before Antares joined?
Sort of, it was founded a few months prior to the tentacle invasion in the frontier, which likely wouldn't have heard of it unless they were actively seeking it out. They were very much in the space boonies, no real method of communication with core space. It's likely why no one in the sector was aware of the tentacle threat until it was too late.