Peel Region council may be on hold for the summer but business must go on.
As such, the municipality has formed a temporary committee that has the authority to approve expenditures ordinarily requiring council's official stamp of approval.
Dubbed the Interim Period Approvals Committee, the body is permitted to sign off on official business including the expenditure of funds, acquisition of goods and services and execution of documents.
Kent Gillespie, Peel's commissioner of corporate services, said the committee, comprised of elected officials and staff, could assume this authority anytime there is lull of more than 21 days between the date of the last scheduled meeting, and the next regular meeting of council.
The next regular meeting is slated Sept. 18.
"Limitations exist on the authority of staff to deal with regional business during a hiatus in the sitting of council," read the recommendations forwarded to councillors. "These limitations may prove problematic in dealing with certain large scale and time sensitive capital projects. In these circumstances the establishment of a committee with full authority to deal with such matters is proposed."
Region officials explained there is a bylaw that allows staff to act during an interim period.
Under this provision, when there is no meeting of council scheduled in a period 21 days the region's "signing officers" are authorized to sign off on expenditures.
However, the dollar amount a region official can authorize must not exceed $250,000 or 10 per cent of the budget, which ever is less.
The bylaw limits what staff can do, Gillespie said.
A good example is Peel's involvement in two large capital projects currently underway in Mississauga: work on the new Jack Darling Park wastewater pumping station and the Lorne Park water treatment plant expansion.
The value of the projects lies somewhere in the range of $62 million and normally such an expenditure would have to be signed off by council.
But both projects risked coming to a screeching halt as council is on a break until September.
Therefore a solution was needed, Gillespie said.
"In order to deal with this challenge during this summer and for the remainder of council's term, it is proposed to establish an interim period approvals committee which could be convened at the call of the chair and would have delegated to it council's full authority to make decisions which would be beyond the authority of staff," read the recommendation presented to members of council.
In addition to the region chair, the committee includes chairs and vice chairs of the management, environment, transportation and planning, health and human services sections of general committee.
onlinenews@mississauga.net
