Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Mid-July is a ‘reasonable’ expectation for the arrival of the much-anticipated KPMG land sale review report to Greater Napanee council.
That was the timeline given to council at their June 8 meeting. The update was provided at the request of Deputy Mayor Max Kaiser.
“KPMG is anticipating mid to end of June for the report,” reads an update from town staff. “Cunningham Swan will then need to review and prepare an opinion for council, so mid-July for a report to council should be reasonable. KPMG were finishing up interviews.”
Council hired KPMG to take an extremely close look at the circumstances surrounding the town’s sale of 10 properties over the last decade, which had a number of ‘controlled breakdowns’ as noted by the firm in their first report, which was presented to council in January.
-Council voted to award a tender for the replacement of Oliver Side Road Bridge to National Structures.
They did so at the recommendation of town staff, which noted the bid of $997,546 was the lowest of the four bids. The total project costs comes to $1,142,305 with HST.
Construction materials are expected to arrive in September with a project completion date of October of this year. The bridge remains open but with a load restriction of five tonnes. That limit, down from 20 tonnes, was imposed in August of last year after the deterioration of one of the steel trusses on the bridge was observed during inspection.
Once work is completed its expected there will be no weight restrictions on the bridge. The new bridge is expected to carry a minimum life expectancy of at least 50 years.
-Mayor Marg Isbester opened the meeting by speaking out on two national tragic issues: the discovery of a mass grave of Indigenous children at a former residential school in Kamloops and the murder of a four members of a Muslim family in London, On.
“The discovery of 215 Indigenous children buried in a mass grave at former Kamloops residential school, all levels of government are working and need to continue to work toward the healing of all involved,” said Isbester. “Our thoughts and prayers are with anyone and everyone to help with and understand and heal. The senseless and horrific hate crime in London, Ontario- yes, Ontario, has brought to the forefront how hate, lack of respect and lack of understanding continue to see these terrible hate crimes continue. For the family and friends of those lost and for the city of London, we pray for recovery from this unimaginable event as well as for all Canadians, in fact all people, to find a way to stop the hate and start the acceptance of difference.”
-Speaking at one of his last official council meetings, Greater Napanee CAO Ray Callery offered his good-byes after 24 years on the job.
“It has certainly been my pleasure to work with so many exceptional staff, consultants and legal advisors since amalgamation,” said Callery. “After amalgamation, seven elected members joined with assembled staff to work through some amazingly complex and challenging times. Tax policy, landfill expansion, waste contracts, new staffing agreements, consumption of country road systems, new police contracts and the sale of a hydro commission were all tackled as a team. This was at a time when residents were still strongly connected to their geographical boundaries and identified closer as neighbours within a hamlet or a church group than they did as residents as a new community. I have had the opportunity to help mentor many staff over this time and I have learned from them much more I am sure than they might have been able to learn from me. But watching them become so accomplished in their careers has been incredibly rewarding.”
Isbester wished Callery the best at his new job but hinted he’d be called back for the June 22 meeting for a more formal farewell presentation from the town. Callery is slated to take over as CAO of Leeds and Grenville next month.