The City of Belleville has been found in breach of the municipal act.
Quinte News has been contacted by an individual who submitted a complaint to Belleville’s Integrity Commissioner David Boghosian.
This week, a report was released regarding a contentious piece of plan near Jane Forrester Park, at 41 South John Street.
The municipality originally had recommended the property as surplus, with a plan to transfer the property to a neighbouring home, while not seeking compensation.
Quinte News was contacted by a local realtor representing the neighbours, who indicated to us it would be developed for a community-based project, not a residence.
After a lot of public backlash, the city pivoted and removed the land from the surplus list for the municipality.
According to municipal documents, the site supported fuel storage tanks on the vacant land many decades ago.
In the Integrity Commissioner’s report, Boghosian found council breached the Municipal Act, by voting on the property in-camera, which means not open to the public.
The IC is recommending procedural by-laws be updated to prevent in-camera votes from happening again.
A resolution will be required at a future meeting on how council wishes to address the report and its findings.
