Rural Municipality OF CORNWALLIS Councillor alleges improper purchase by reeve

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This article was published 23/04/2021 (1987 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A councillor in the RM of Cornwallis is alleging that the community’s reeve improperly purchased a trailer for municipal use and violated COVID-19 self-isolation rules while doing so.

Ward 1 Coun. Sam Hofer told the Sun this week that Reeve Bill Courtice had made the purchase and then tried to slip it into this fiscal year’s financial plan for Cornwallis after the fact.

According to Hofer, the municipality had been discussing purchasing a dump trailer since December last year.

In the minutes for Cornwallis’ transportation committee meeting dated March 16, the need for a purchase was discussed.

“Looking at the trailer — we had previously spoken about 8,000 (pound) axle, we rent a skid steer one / twice a year,” the minutes read. “This would be a special order trailer. Emil will work on pricing.”

“Emil” refers to Ward 2 Coun. Emil Egert.

After that, Hofer said there was an email conversation in late March in which several councillors voiced approval for the purchase of a trailer being sold by Fast Toys For Boys, a trailer store in Davidson, Sask., for approximately $16,000.

Davidson is approximately 104 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon.

Hofer said that Prentice then took his own truck to and from Saskatchewan to purchase and pick up the trailer, paying for it with a municipal cheque.

The councillor said that no vote for the purchase of the trailer was held at a council meeting beforehand, but the trailer was added after the fact to the financial plan for the current fiscal year.

“There was no resolution on this,” Hofer said. “This vote was taken via email.”

That plan was up for a vote at the April 20 council meeting. A copy of the financial plan attached to the agenda for that meeting shows a utility trailer line item under a list of capital expenditures for the 2021 fiscal year at a price of $17,000.

“They danced around many questions about that trailer during the Tuesday night budget meeting,” Hofer said about his colleagues.

“They were ready to approve the expenditure (Tuesday) night and actually they scrambled feverishly to get it off the account payable. It was a mass confusion at the meeting.”

According to The Municipal Act, a municipality can only make an expenditure if it is accounted for in its operating budget, if it is related to a state of emergency declared by council, if the purchase has been ordered by a court or the Municipal Board or if it has been authorized by council.

Purchases made outside those guidelines are considered a criminal offence under the act.

“Section 171 of The Municipal Act is clear that council members may not spend municipal money without authorization, or contrary to an authorization that has been given,” a government spokesperson wrote in an email to the Sun. “While such authorization would typically be provided by resolution or bylaw, it would be up to each municipality to determine their approach for authorizing expenditures within the framework established by The Municipal Act.”

Beyond the purchase issue, Hofer is also concerned that Courtice used his own truck to pick up the trailer, which he said could have been a liability issue for the municipality if something had gone wrong.

Also, he said Courcoutice did not self-isolate upon returning from Saskatchewan, which is currently required under public health orders.

“I would not comment on that at this particular point,” Prentice said when reached by phone. “We’re checking into that. Just mark down ‘no comment’ for now.”

Ward 1 Coun. Kurt Wasserberg said he refuses to speak with the Sun on any issue. Egert said he had no time to speak and hung up.

“I don’t really know how he got the trailer,” Ward 2 Coun. Bob Brown said.

Asked directly if a trailer purchase had been voted on during a council meeting, Brown said it hadn’t. When asked if members of council were allowed to make purchases without prior authorization, he said no, but that the purchase had been “very time-sensitive.”

“There were none of these trailers available at the moment, so it kind of had to be acted upon quickly,” Brown said.

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