Financial Plan
Sechelt’s finance, culture and economic development committee was presented with a draft of the 2017-21 financial plan at the Dec. 14 meeting.
Director of corporate and financial services Doug Stewart said the draft brings together details from an earlier preliminary budget report, with new information, including a full listing of proposed capital projects. In 2017 they include $1.9 million for the public works yard, $20,000 for new computer equipment, and $75,000 for the Davis Bay float.
Stewart said the draft plan, which is available to the public, breaks the district’s activities into 23 programs under seven larger areas. He said it’s an easier to understand format than breaking the budget down by department.
The district plans a round of public consultation on the 2017 budget in January.
Library Funding
The committee voted to recommend spending $102,000 to get a so-called Class B construction estimate for the Sechelt Public Library renovation project – $45,447 would come from the community building reserve and the rest would come from taxation.
The estimate is needed before the district can launch an alternate approval process on borrowing money for the $1.5-million project.
Although Coun. Doug Wright said he supports the library renovation, he’s not happy about how the funding for the project is being handled. He argued it shouldn’t be done outside the regular budget process.
“When we start approving money in isolation from all the other capital projects that are going to be there [in the budget], I think that’s a very bad way to start setting our budget,” he told the committee. “We need to know that if we approve this, and it goes to council and it’s a done deal, you’ve already taken that money out of our budget before you see the rest of the budget. And that gives me some cause for concern because I suspect that there will be a number of projects on that budget list that we will want to look at, and they’re not all going to get funded.”
Wright and Coun. Noel Muller were opposed. The recommendation was due to go to full council Dec. 21.
Arts Festival
Fall storms hurt attendance at the Sechelt Arts Festival’s marquee events this year, and there was less money from corporate sponsors, but it didn’t hurt the bottom line.
In their final report, co-producers Nancy Cottingham Powell and Diana Robertson said a bigger contribution from the district – nearly $15,000 more – helped. “That increase helped provide financial stability,” said Cottingham Powell.
Overall the festival saw a three per cent increase in revenue, but expenses were up by an equal amount.
The 2016 edition of the festival was Cottingham Powell’s eighth, and last. “It’s been my absolute pleasure to help develop this project not only for the district, but for the community,” she said. “I just want to say that without the district’s support none of this would have been possible.”
Ancient Logs
The committee is also recommending council add creating a display space for one of the ancient logs uncovered during the construction of the Watermark to the 2017 budget talks.
The logs, estimated to be around 5,500 years old, are currently in the custody of the Sunshine Coast Natural History Society.
Since the society came forward with an offer to donate one of the 10 logs found at the site, district staff have been working with the UBC Museum of Anthropology and the Royal BC Museum to get advice about the best ways to display the logs. They also came up with a rough estimate of $4,015. The Community Forest has offered to donate signage.
They were told it would be safe to keep them in an unheated shed for a few years until a display area is ready. One drawback to displaying the logs outdoors is that, if left untreated, they would eventually rot.
Coun. Noel Muller said he likes the idea of having them somewhere on the waterfront. “The main waterfront [at Trail Bay] is one of our main attractions; with the walking tour and some of the other public interest pieces that are down there, it’s starting to get a critical mass,” he said.
Coun. Darnelda Siegers suggested the budget options should include an option for some sort of enclosure or shelter.r
