By Mark Squibb/October 21, 2021
Bay Bulls’ new council ran into an old problem right off the bat at its first meeting last week – a lack of quorum, because some councilors were in a conflict of interest.
The item on the agenda was an application for a utility shed.
Councilor Keith O’ Driscoll declared himself in conflict as he had an immediate family member adjacent to the property.
His wife and fellow councillor Shannon O’Driscoll declared herself in conflict for the same reason.
Thirdly, Mayor Neil O’Brien declared conflict, as he lives in close proximity to the property.
As three of the five councilors had declared conflict, quorum was lost, and a vote could not be taken.
The town’s chief administrative officer Jennifer Aspell said council can request ministerial approval for the remaining two members to vote on the matter.
Councillor Jason Sullivan asked if Mayor O’Brien could retract his declaration, but Aspell said he could not as he had already declared.
Sullivan joked that council ought to just let the applicant put the shed up, seeing as council couldn’t vote on the matter.
When Aspell asked if council wanted to go ahead and seek ministerial approval, Sullivan said that by the time approval was granted the shed would be built, so it didn’t matter.
“Well, that’s not really the case,” said Aspell after a pause. “There has to be a decision on this matter, so either you ask for ministerial approval for the remaining two to make a decision, or we can defer it until next month and see if it can be dealt with then.”
A recommendation was made to defer the motion, but Sullivan argued there was no point to deferring it as council will not be able to deal with it at the next meeting for the same reason.
The agenda item will be back on the agenda once ministerial approval is granted. The actual location of the property was never identified during the meeting.
Earlier in the meeting, council grappled with a similar challenge with conflict of interest. The town had received an application for a family home on Track Road Extension.
First, councilor Keith O’Driscoll inquired whether he would be in conflict, as an immediate family member lives on the same street.
Sullivan made the motion that O’Driscoll was not in conflict. He noted that if he was, his wife Shannon would be too, and council would not have a quorum to deal with the matter.
Put to a vote, council determined the couple were not in a conflict.
But then Mayor O’Brien declared himself in conflict, because he lives near the proposed construction site.
That led to Deputy Mayor Jason O’Brien assuming the chair.
After all the wrangling about who was or was not in a conflict, council denied the application due to a lack of information.
Following that motion, council unanimously approved construction of a commercial building on Winnonish Drive.
The previous council had, with permission from the provincial government, reduced the town’s complement of councilors from seven to five after numerous attempts to fill two vacancies fell short. This past election, 10 people ran for council, but the Town stuck with limiting the council complement to five positions.
