Council in Saint Andrews has been forced to reschedule items voted on in a meeting held without quorum.
On April 27, the council held a rescheduled meeting following the death of acting mayor Kate Akagi. Akagi’s death meant there were three vacancies, the other two left by the resignations of Jamie Hirtle and Brad Henderson.
In addition, two councillors were absent, Mark Bennett and Marc Blanchard. This meant only five members of council, including Acting Mayor Steve Neil, were present,falling one short of quorum.
“It has been determined that the Special Council Meeting of Monday, April 27, proceeded without meeting the requirements of quorum,” a social media post from the town said on Tuesday. “The decisions made at the meeting are nullified.”
The town’s procedural bylaw indicates what quorum should be. Section 13.2.4. states that quorum is “recorded based on attendance of a minimum of five councillors and the mayor or six members of council.”
In addition, Section 65 of the Local Governance Act states that quorum is the majority of council. It also indicates that vacancies still count toward the number of members.
“For the purposes of calculating a quorum, the number of members of council … shall be used regardless of whether there are any vacancies on the council,” the Act reads.
The Department of Local Government said the council can only make decisions by bylaw or resolution at a regular or special council meeting when quorum is present.
“If quorum is not met, no decisions can be made, and the matter must wait until a future meeting,” the department said in a statement. “Quorum depends on the council’s composition and is unaffected by vacant seats. In the case of Saint Andrews composition is ten, so six members of council are required to conduct a meeting.”
The council will be reduced by three following the upcoming municipal election. Chamcook is losing one seat and the Saint Andrews ward is losing two. There will now be four seats in Ward 3 — Saint Andrews — and two seats each in Chamcook and Bayside.
Quorum in that case will be less than what is required for the current council.
Coun. Annette Harland did question whether the council had quorum during the meeting. She was assured by staff that quorum was met.
The town said in a statement there was a conflict in the factors considered for the determination of quorum.
All items that were voted on will be moved to the regular council meeting scheduled for May 4.
