Belleville’s Integrity Commissioner and a lead provincial investigator is recommending a change in procedure following an investigation against City Council in regards to a deal with the YMCA.
A report put out ahead of a Belleville Council meeting on Monday stated a complaint had been received from Belleville resident Alex Wideman on September 23 regarding an alleged breach of the open meeting provisions of the Municipal Act in connection with a “land swap” arrangement between the City and the YMCA of Central East Ontario.
It pertained to the decision to have the new YMCA Centre for Life built on Bridge Street West in Centennial Park rather than the former fairgrounds property, which was found to have had contamination.
The land transfer had been publicly announced by council in August of last year.
Investigator David Boghosian found that council breached regulations by voting on a substantive issue, the approval of the land swap in closed session and failing to provide an adequate description of the topic on the open meeting agenda in meetings last July.
However, Boghosian also stated he found the city has already taken sufficient steps to address most of the concerns.
Boghosian recommended when the city plans to rely on holding votes in public session unless the vote is for a procedural matter or for giving directions or instructions to officers, employees or agents of the municipality, council should state in a public session that it has given express consideration to whether a vote taken in closed session is on a substantive rather than a procedural matter or one merely providing directions to staff.
Currently, the city’s practices state a motion must be considered in the public portion of the meeting on each item discussed during closed session.
Council will vote on an updated draft bylaw authorizing the sale of the surplus land as part of Monday’s agenda.
