The warden of Antigonish Co. says changes may be coming to the way they distribute municipal funding.
Owen McCarron says it’s a result of the decision by Antigonish Farmers’ Market board members to sole source the construction of their new, year-round facility on the exhibition grounds on James St., rather than issuing a request for proposals.
Antigonish Co. officials provided $200,000 for the project.
After November’s regular municipal council meeting Tuesday night, McCarron said there was nothing within that tying board members to going to tender, but that may change with future contributions.
“That’s something we’ll look at going forward,” he said. “Obviously, that might have been a weakness that maybe should have been looked at.”
McCarron said they’ve heard concerns from residents, and brought those concerns up when they met with market board members.
He said board members told them timelines were very tight following July’s federal funding announcement.
“It might have been a bit of an oversight, but certainly there was nothing done with any ill attempt to misrepresent anything,” he said. “They explained it very well.”
McCarron said board members were feeling the time crunch with construction, and winter approaching.
Antigonish town officials provided $150,000 for the project; officials with the federal government gave $700,000.
