Adam Prudhomme
Editor
KPMG’s long awaited report detailing a review of the Town of Greater Napanee’s property sales process on three properties of interest was released on Tuesday, finding ‘no evidence to suggest any conflict of interest or any improper conduct of activity.’
In an 18 page report presented to Greater Napanee council on Monday, KPMG found though there was no improper conduct on the part of staff, there were instances of non-compliance with the Land Sale Bylaw which was attributed to: ‘insufficient oversight and governance over the land sale process, ambiguity in the bylaw in terms of roles and responsibilities and insufficient checks and balances in the bylaw, leading to a lack of accountability and ownership of tasks.’
In conclusion of their report, KPMG recommendations included: the creation of a procedural document and checklist, an update of the town’s land sales bylaw, to enter in a pilot project of using a real estate agent for disposition of town properties and to outline a clear direction as to the use of funds following the sale that is aligned with the town’s strategic priorities.
Greater Napanee council began the process of hiring an outside firm-KPMG-to review the last decade of property tax sales following public outcry of the sale of 32 Oke Road. Members of the public questioned if any improper dealings had taken place during the sale of the property to a former mayor.
“I was sure that the report would show that there was no wrong doing,” Mayor Marg Isbester told the Beaver following the release of the report. “There was no collusion. But we do need a better path to go forward, re-do our bylaw, make sure that all of our procedures are followed.”
The latest report was the second one conducted by KPMG on the matter of property sales, the first was a look at 10 sales conducted over the past decade. Following the initial report, council called on KPMG to perform a ‘deep dive’ into three properties that were considered to have the most controlled breakdowns during their sale: 32 Oke Road, 313 Belleville Road and Heritage Park (401 Angila Street). Council passed the motion to retain KPMG to put together a second report in February of this year for an estimated cost of $15,000-$20,000.
“It will shape a better policy,” Isbester said of the latest report. “Going back to the first report there are many municipalities that have very much the same, if not exactly the same bylaws that controls and sets out the parameters for selling during tax sales or surplus land. They’re very much like ours and KPMG was not greatly in favour of that. This now will put us in a position now going forward that there will be a perfect checklist that say to do this, you need to have this. To do this, you need to have that.”
The town had previously put a hold on all land sales pending the review and will now enlist Tony Fleming of Cunningham Swan Lawyers to construct a new bylaw to govern the sale of all land sales going forward.
The full KPMG report has been posted to www.GreaterNapanee.ca and members of the public are invited to provide their feedback.
“We were happy to be able to release it in its entirety, which is what we had wanted to do from the beginning,” said Isbester. “This is a public process.”
The report was discussed in closed session during Monday’s special council meeting before being released on Tuesday.
“What some people wanted us to do was just put a whole pile of papers in the middle and let people that are not professionals of forensic studies look at them and come out with some sort of an outcome,” said Isbester. “This was organized. (KPMG) had access to absolutely everything that they needed. That’s the only way you can come out with a fulsome report.”
Isbester said the town could now soon back to working with developers.
“It gives something for council to move forward on,” said Isbester, “That’s very important to council. This has been with us since July last year. Somebody said to me ‘are you sorry you started the process’? Absolutely, positively I am not sorry.”