THE Horsham Rural City Council's meeting slated for Monday, July 4, was adjourned due to the council's inability to form a quorum.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Councillors Les Power, Claudia Haenel, Ian Ross and Di Bell were apologies for the meeting, forcing mayor Robyn Gulline to close the session immediately after opening it.
The meeting was set to be an additional overflow meeting to address agenda items that weren't heard at the council's meeting the previous week.
During HRCC's dramatic June 27 meeting, councillor Di Bell was referred to the local government inspectorate regarding concerns she failed to disclose a conflict of interest concerning the Australian Services Union's allegations of bullying.
On the agenda were three notices of motion, two of which were put forward by Cr Bell and one by Cr Ross.
The meeting would have also covered several confidential matters, including the Rural Councils Corporate Collaboration tender outcome, a cleaning contract for "various outdoor facilities and public conveniences", updates from the audit and risk committee, and a contract extension for an internal auditor.
Notice of motion 194, given by Cr Bell, proposed "that Council, in consultation with the Local Government Minister, conduct an external audit of the City to River planning and delivery process. The results to be released to the Community.".
Notice of motion 195, also given by Cr Bell, asked that the "council conduct a strategic review of all infrastructure projects, including City to River, currently identified in HRCC Plans and Strategies, to establish the priority of all projects. This review is to be completed by December 31 2022 or earlier."
The final motion, 196, presented by Cr Ross, moved that "HRCC include $750,000 in our 2022-2023 Budget and Action Plan, to maximise the opportunities for the Wesley Performing Arts Centre (WPAC) to have successful grant applications and to ensure that this asset is restored to the community for use.
"If grant applications are unsuccessful, HRCC fully fund the project in the 2023-2024 Budget and Action Plan."
The timeline of the Wesley Performing Arts Centre reactivation project was the subject of debate during the council's June 27 meeting.
An eleventh-hour amendment proposed by Cr Ross to bring funding for the project into the 2022-23 budget was quashed, as it would have forced HRCC to return to the community for consultation and fail to pass the budget by the end of the 2021-22 financial year.
The adjourned meeting occurred days after a municipal monitor was appointed to HRCC following governance and councillor conduct issues.
If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Wimmera Mail-Times, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling your stories. We appreciate your support of journalism in our region.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.mailtimes.com.au/
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/Wim_Mail_Times
- Follow us on Instagram www.instagram.com/wimmeramailtimes/