The township has followed Wellington County’s lead, appointing John Maddox of London-based JGM Consulting as its closed meeting investigator.
Mapleton council approved the appointment of Maddox at the Dec. 9 meeting.
Wellington County council authorized hiring Maddox and inviting interested member municipalities to join a shared agreement for his services at its Nov. 27 meeting.
Maddox’s fees include an annual retainer of $1,000 for the county and $300 for each lower tier municipality, which will be covered by the county. An hourly fee of $100 plus mileage and expenses will be paid by the municipality in which any investigation is conducted.
Maddox was contracted for a two-year term, beginning Jan. 1.
Norm Gamble, a former municipal administrator from Grey County, previously provided services to the county and to Mapleton. He was the investigator for all lower tier municipalities in Wellington except Guelph-Eramosa. Gamble recently announced plans to retire at the end of the year.
Gamble’s fees had included a $200 retainer and fees of $350 per day and $175 per half day, plus mileage and expenses.
A report from CAO Patty Sinnamon advised council of other possible options prior to their decision to approve contracting Maddox.
Had the township declined to appoint a closed meeting investigator, the job would default to the Ontario Ombudsmen’s Office.
While pointing out there is no cost to the municipality for the ombudsman to conduct investigations, Sinnamon noted, “township staff have had no experience with the Office of the Ombudsman.”
Another option would have been to appoint Local Authority Services (LAS), which has entered into service agreements with some municipalities across the province.
LAS charges an annual retainer of $330 plus the cost of each investigation at $225 per hour. LAS estimates each investigation takes approximately 17 hours to complete for an average cost of $3,825.
Councillor Dennis Craven asked if Maddox was a “one-man operation” or if he worked with associates.
Told Maddox works alone, Craven said “then we would get him, himself,” should an investigation be required.
“There aren’t a lot of investigations, fortunately,” said Sinnamon, who noted the information and forms for initiating an investigation will remain available on the township’s website.
