Investigator rules county, board followed proper procedures on Aboyne issue

A meeting investigator report has found Wellington County’s library board followed proper procedures when dealing with the closure of the Aboyne library.

Investigator Norm Gamble, in a report to council, said he had received complaints about  meeting procedures followed by the board from three unnamed residents. Gamble said it was determined the investigation would focus on a board meeting June 13 and county council meeting June 28.

“The first finding is in the determination that the only meetings under investigation would be the county committee meeting on June 13 and the county council meeting on June 28,” Gamble said in his report released to council Oct. 25. “The second finding was that both meetings went into closed session for the same purpose. Likewise it was found that the Municipal Act ‘Exemption’ that was used was the same for both meetings.

“This ‘exemption’ which allows the councils and committees is as follow, ‘personal matters about an identifiable person,’” Gamble wrote.

“These meeting were held properly pursuant to the Municipal Act and the County of Wellington Procedural Bylaw,” the investigator reported. “The use of ‘...an identifiable person’ might be technically challenged if the exemption is to refer to a single individual. In this case there was a very limited number of persons (four) all working in a small rural setting and it is reasonable to expect a council to protect its employees all of whom would be easily identified.

“The County of Wellington and its committees appear to be operating not only pursuant to the Municipal Act, but also pursuant to the intent of its requirements,” Gamble concluded.

“We have a clean bill of health,” Warden Chris White said of the report. “Proper procedure was followed.”