Grey County council is not ready to give up its approval authority for tendered contracts of more than $500,000.
At its meeting on Nov. 28, county council rejected a staff recommendation that would have seen approval of all county tenders over $500,000 shifted from council’s responsibility to senior staff.
Council voted to keep approval authority at the council table. In addition, council also added another layer of oversight that will see a report come to council for approval anytime a tendered contract between $75,000 to $500,000 is more than 20 per cent over budget.
At the meeting, a staff report recommended updates to the county’s purchasing policy, which is reviewed every five years. One recommendation that council approved was an increase to the total amount staff can spend on direct purchases from $5,000 to $20,000.
Grey Highlands Mayor Paul McQueen said he could not support eliminating council approval for projects over $500,000.
“On those big ticket items, we should be finalizing. Elected officials should make the decision,” he said.
McQueen found support for his position from Owen Sound Deputy Mayor Scott Greig, who said he didn’t feel council having final approval had a major impact on awarding tenders in a timely manner.
“We have meetings every two weeks. It’s not that impactful to timelines,” he said.
Council was supportive of an amendment to leave approval authority for projects of $500,000 or more at the council table. Following that decision, West Grey Mayor Kevin Eccles amended the resolution to add an extra level of oversight for council.
Eccles requested that when projects between $75,000 - $500,000 are over budget by 20 per cent or more, that council becomes responsible for approving the tender. Currently, such a tender would be approved by senior staff.
“I would like to see a report back here,” said Eccles. “I want to know ahead of time.”
Members of county council were supportive of the amendment from Eccles.
