No signed contract has been found for a village’s now-abandoned recycling scheme.

And the commissioners’ board did not see a survey before they decided to buy a dilapidated building - and now don’t have the money to finish refurbishing it.

These were among the revelations that came out a public meeting held at Port St Mary town hall to discuss the village’s recent 5.2% rate rise and the controversial purchase of Manxonia House.

At the end of April it was announced that the village’s kerbside recycling collection scheme had been pulled with immediate effect.

The authority blamed ’an unforeseen rise in contractor’s costs’ for the abandonment of the scheme which has been operated by Middle Park since October last year.

But commissioners’ Michelle Haywood (pictured) told the 40 or so villagers who attended Monday night’s public meeting that no signed contract with Middle Park had been found.

She told iomtoday later: ’Nothing was signed and dated. That’s why the contract was cancelled at short notice.’

In other revelations, the public meeting was told that the purchase of Manxonia House for £191,000 in October 2016 was decided upon by the board without having seen a survey.

’The survey didn’t come to the board until after the purchase,’ said Dr Haywood.

As refurbishment works got under way it emerged that the building would need to be reroofed. This, together with repointing, has cost £65,000.

Ms Haywood told the meeting that just under £270,000, including the purchase price, had been spent on Manxonia House so far. ’We don’t have the money to complete the project,’ she admitted.

She estimated the project will cost £400,000, including the £191,000 purchase price, to complete.

A planning application has gone in for replacement windows. But work on refurbishing the building has stopped while the commissioners evaluate options.

The board met last night (Wednesday) to consider the way forward, having received three valuations for the building.

’The way it was purchased stinks,’ said one member of the audience.

The was no public consultation ahead of the Manxonia House being bought.

And a business case, drawn up as part of a petition for borrowing approval, was only made public following an FoI request by Isle of Man Newspapers.

None of that loan for £221,000 has been drawn down. Instead, money for the purchase came from an account that had lain dormant and unnoticed for years.

Former chairman Laurence Vaughan-Williams insisted the 5.2% rates rise had nothing to do with Manxonia House. He said it was due to the need for a contingency fund over the departure of former clerk Alastair Hamilton.

In April the authority announced it had reached an agreement regarding matters that led to Mr Hamilton’s resignation in January.

There was criticism at the meeting about lack of transparency. ’Any news is via the media,’ one audience member said. Mr Vaughan-Williams explained the board could not discuss the reasons for the rate rise at the time because they had been in confidential contractual discussions.