Reaction is pouring in from Kleefeld residents over Hanover council's decision concerning the Kleefeld Recreation Association (KRA).

Hanover Reeve Stan Toews announced Thursday that The Exchange Group of Winnipeg will be conducting a forensic audit and that the board's Secretary-Treasurer has been suspended until her term expires or the results of the audit are known.

Three weeks ago, Toews announced the municipality would be taking over all aspects of the accounting functions of the Association. This was the result of a 2017 audit uncovering issues which could have left municipal funds exposed to fraudulent activities.

The Association then handed over all aspects of the accounting functions, including the 2018 financials, to Hanover. Toews says after going through the 2018 books, some "disturbing" documentation was found. This prompted Hanover council to order the forensic audit.

Three days prior to this announcement, about 40 people packed into the Kleefeld Recreation Centre to attend a meeting of the KRA. The board went over a long list of questions that had been pre-submitted by Kleefeld residents. There were questions such as why expenses are being approved without receipts and how much money board members receive as annual honorariums. There were also questions specific to the Kleefeld Honey Festival, including how much money is given to the winner of the Chili Cook Off and why Festival prizes are allowed to be won by the family of board members.

Kelly Wiens was in attendance at Monday's meeting. He says the board danced around too many questions and in many cases deferred questions to the RM of Hanover. Wiens says when the board was asked where specific silent auction prizes came from, there wasn't a clear answer.

"This Honey Festival happened maybe a month ago, that shouldn't be forgotten," says Wiens. "Those are things that if you are on top of your game with bookkeeping, you should have that very quickly in front of you."

Stephanie Wiens says she was quite surprised by the lack of information shared.

"I was surprised by the inability to explain what I would consider to be fairly straightforward questions," she says. "That was disappointing for me."

Wiens says she put herself in the shoes of board members. If she was a board member responsible for managing funds from the municipality, Wiens says she would consider it important to have that information readily available to validate her actions.

Barry Penner says Monday's meeting was frustrating.

"Through all of this we've really been looking to get some greater transparency," says Penner. "We were really hoping at Monday's meeting that we would be able to get some of these answers but anything financial related was deflected back to the RM."

There was considerable discussion Monday over how much money is spent to run the Chili Cook Off at the Festival in comparison to how few entries it attracts. The board was also questioned on how judges are selected and how it is possible that the President of the KRA should be allowed to win this event.

The silent auction at the Festival has also been a point of contention since the August event. Residents suggest several large prizes were won by children of board members and even by the local Councillor.

Jenessa Westervelt volunteered at the silent auction. She says there were inconsistencies with how the board managed that event. Committee members were allowed to win prizes without being present, though the same gesture was not granted to other festival goers. She says the procedure for drawing silent auction tickets was also not consistent from one prize to the next.

Residents are now applauding the RM of Hanover for ordering the forensic audit.

"I think it's prudent for the RM of Hanover to have made those decisions and taken those steps," shares Stephanie Wiens. "It gives me actually confidence in the leadership there and that they are taking this seriously."

She says this is a big deal for her community and if there have been shady dealings, there needs to be a level of accountability.

Kelly Wiens says he is satisfied that this is moving in the right direction. Wiens says hopefully any corruption is brought to light.

"If the books and everything comes back and they can be justified and proven that things are going good, that's awesome as well and we would apologize very quickly for bringing this up," he says.

Meanwhile, the decision to suspend one board member has Penner scratching his head. He notes the KRA has confirmed that two signatures are required for cheques written for expenses without receipts.

"So any expenditure would require approval from two individuals, so I'm not sure the reason for one individual being looked at maybe closer than the others," says Penner. "Maybe there was something that was found out specific towards one person's actions."

But, Penner says he is satisfied with the steps being taken by the RM of Hanover, noting these are serious concerns coming up.

"I trust that the individuals involved are going to cooperate more with the auditors than what we were able to receive," adds Penner.

"I think it's a small victory that one member has been suspended," notes Kelly Wiens. "I think there's probably more that are going to follow suit or should be feeling probably a little bit of heat. I think it's very embarrassing that at a board level like that, this is even happening."

Attempts have been made to get comment from the Kleefeld Recreation Association.

Read More:

Forensic Audit Ordered For Kleefeld Recreation Association

Kleefeld Residents Concerned With Recreation Association