THE city’s mobile library will be independently valued then sold with Greater Dandenong’s CEO to give final approval for the deal.
That is the result of Monday night’s council meeting which fell into disarray as councillors spent almost an hour debating two notices of motion relating to the decommissioned service.
The first from Keysborough Ward councillor Roz Blades called for the council to have three independent valuers assess the prime mover and trailer.
Dandenong Ward councillor Jim Memeti failed in an attempt to amend the notice to include a condition that funds from the sale be put aside for a future static library in Keysborough.
Councillors then rejected the original motion in a narrow five to six count.
The second motion was from Springvale South Ward councillor Yvonne Herring and it called for the mobile library to be sold as soon as possible with Greater Dandenong CEO John Bennie given final approval for the sale.
The six councillors who rejected Cr Blades’s notice: Cr Herring, mayor John Kelly, Maria Sampey, Paul Donovan, Sue Walton and Alan Gordon, all supported the motion.
In line with council policy, it will now seek one valuation and be placed on the market, with Mr Bennie having the power to say ‘yea’ or ‘nay’ to prices offered by potential buyers.
Cr Blades, along with Keysborough South Ward councillor Peter Brown, had fought hard to sway the council to support the three independent valuations.
Both said that having more than one valuation would guarantee the city that it would get the best possible return on its mobile library assets.
But Cr Herring said that councillors trusted officers to obtain the best prices for fleet vehicles and that the mobile library situation was no different.
– Shaun Inguanzo
