THUNDER BAY – City staff now have a year to report back to council on a potential sale of Hillcourt Estates.
In what turned into a heated discussion at council on Monday night, the elected members voted to follow the original ask of realty services to delay the report from March 18, 2024 to on or before March 31, 2025.
At-large councillors Mark Bentz and Trevor Giertuga missed the original vote on March 11 as did Current River Coun. Andrew Foulds.
Giertuga provided paperwork to councillors as well as to the media, arguing that proper procedure was not followed with the vote.
“The amendment that was put on the floor by Coun. Johnsen was contrary to the original resolution,” Giertuga told council.
“In our procedural by-law it states that a motion to amend a motion in possession of the assembly shall not be contrary to the main motion.
“I called the clerk’s office and said that I believe that the vote wasn’t in order whereas I was told it was.”
Giertuga added, in the provided document, that outstanding items will be presented at each committee of the whole meeting and provide a list of items passed by resolution and directed by council to return by a designated date. The list of items will pertain to each section of committee of the whole.
“This documentation tells us exactly what we're supposed to do, but we can't just keep doing things wrong,” said Giertuga. “If we've done something wrong, it's not a sign of weakness but rather a sign of strength that we're going to change things and get better.”
Bentz was surprised by the March 11 vote.
“I think that this item, regardless of interpretations of the rules, should go back to the coordinating committee. I have been on council for a while and I didn't think that move was possible," Bentz said.
Giertuga asked the clerk what further steps he could take to make his point, and that’s when Krista Power spoke up.
“It's important to note that city council appoints your city clerk. I am a statutory officer under the legislation and I report to you,” Power noted. “Council appoints me and they can also dismiss me, should they wish to do so.
“I am subject to the employee code of conduct and you can certainly speak to city manager Norm Gale, who would then manage any sort of matter.”
Giertuga added that he was only looking to appeal the decision and not necessarily to replace the clerk.
Neebing Coun. Greg Johnsen didn’t feel the conversation was appropriate at that time.
“There's a time and place for these conversations. If that's how you feel about our procedures and policies, then you sit with clerks and you work on crafting better wording,” Johnsen said, in an interview following the meeting.
“I don’t believe that the time to have this discussion is during a council meeting. That conversation needs to take place at another time or location.”
Current River Coun. Andrew Foulds and others spoke up in support of the clerk’s office, stating that “they work day in and day out to provide us with the best knowledge and expertise to help us make better decisions.”
“In this particular process, there was nothing wrong in what we've done. There’s also nothing wrong with the bylaw but perhaps we want to change it. The clerk and deputy city clerk are in charge of interpreting things and then providing the professional opinion to us, which they did.”
Johnsen stated that as councillors, they have to trust what city staff are telling them.
“As a city councillor, I don't know all the things that they know. They have a lot of resources and experience, which we rely on for decision making,” Johnsen said.
Council engaged in a pair of recorded votes to defer ratification of the March 11 decision until after the coordinating committee had a chance to review the file, and both of those lost on a tie.
Johnsen then brought forward an amendment to the original timeline of March 31, 2025 to make the deadline on or before March 31, 2026. That lost 8-4.
“We have a lot of work to do with the various housing initiatives, and this compromise was simply an acknowledgement of that,” Johnsen explained. “Ultimately council didn't see that as a viable option. I thought it was a good idea, but the idea was thrown out with the lost vote.”
Johnsen was the only member to vote against the one-year deadline when the votes were tallied again by deputy clerk Dana Earle.
In July 2023, council voted 7-5 to have staff report back with a recommendation on whether to sell Hillcourt Estates, along with information on future liabilities and other financial details.
The 89-unit mobile home park, located off of Rosslyn Road in the Neebing area, opened in 1976 and was taken over by the city in 1994 after a tax default.
The park has a reported profit of $170,000 a year for the city.
