City purchase of an undisclosed piece of land for an undisclosed price was discussed in closed session

On 24 hour's notice, Elliot Lake councillors gathered in City Hall council chambers Wednesday afternoon to consider two items.

One of the items – to authorize the purchase of an undisclosed piece of land by the city for an undisclosed price – was dealt with in closed session.

It happened following a spirited debate in the Council Chamber. Councillor Chris Patrie, who was out of town, was electronically linked to the meeting by phone but declined to debate the land deal, as did Councillors Sandy Finamore and Norman Mann.

Councillor Mann left the Council Chamber after saying he would not take part in the discussion. Before leaving he said, "I don't believe I have had full disclosure on this item. I am going to excuse myself from the meeting." At that point Councllor Mann packed up his belongings and walked out.

Councillor Finamore said, "I don't see the time sensitivity of this acquisition. I will be opposed to closed session. I don't think this merits our criteria at all."

A motion to go into closed session (with no coverage on television and no members of the public or media present) was ultimately supported by Councillors Ed Pearce, Luc Cyr, Tom Turner and Mayor Dan Marchisella. It was opposed by Councillor Finamore.

When the meeting reopened to public view, Mayor Marchisella explained that the call for the special meeting fell within council's rules. "There was no breach of the procedural bylaw,” he said, adding, "One councillor is in breach of our code of conduct and this will be investigated."

He further stated the land acquisition item was time sensitive, "especially when you are looking at direction to staff." He added, "There will be future pieces coming to consider."

Mayor Marchisella said that in closed session, city staff was directed to continue working on a land purchase. No public disclosure took place at the meeting.

When Mayor Dan Marchisella was contacted by ElliotLakeToday after the meeting, he issued this statement: "As this was a closed session items with much confidential information, I cannot confirm anything other than, any official agreements must be dealt with in open session and will be completely transparent."

Prior to Wednesday's special meeting, there were a number of speculative posts on social media about the property acquisition discussion. Some suggested an effort was being made to acquire the former Algo Centre Mall property. The land at 151 Ontario Ave. is now owned by Eastwood Mall Inc. An effort by the city to buy the 13.5 acre property for $950,000 failed in an earlier special council meeting a few days before Christmas last year.

In that meeting, the motion to buy was lost on a tie vote 3-3, after Councillor Luc Cyr declared a conflict and did not take part in the debate or vote at that time.

The first item up for discussion Wednesday night was a recommendation to buy a new snowblower/double stage snow auger to replace a unit that broke down last week while clearing snow and ice banks on city streets.

Originally, City of Elliot Lake CAO Dan Gagnon requested that council approve spending $110,000 on a replacement snowblower unit from a Montreal area firm. He withdrew that request at Wednesday's meeting saying a snowblower that broke down last week will be repaired and should be back in use by this weekend. The purchase of a new auger will be discussed during this year's budget meetings.

The next regular meeting of Elliot Lake City Council is set for Monday, March 11, at 7 p.m.