Today on the Station House Gallery "Facebook" Page, the following was posted:
It will be an interesting March 8th WL Council Meeting as the above indicates that the Station House Gallery is intending to appear as a delegation to aggressively push for the move of the Station House Gallery from the bottom of Oliver St and Mackenzie Avenue to a new home which could include the overflow parking lot owned currently by the Royal Bank.
Some questions asked by community members include why not add to the existing Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Center (former City of WL Fire Hall)? And will moving the Station House Gallery equate to their survival? Keep in mind - the local Museum received $750,000 in face lifts and that hasn't translated to increased foot traffic at the Museum. Expect WL City Councillor and Chair of WL Council's General Governance Committee Tom Barr to continue to be concerned about the move and whether or not at the end of the day that it makes financial sense and given the budget overrun at the new Fire Hall, strictly from a political sense - WL Council should be very careful right now on taking on new major projects. The Station House Gallery move budget is estimated at $500,000 which includes a "Towns for Tomorrow" grant and there's no guarantee that the City will get the grant and there is no identified "Plan B" if the City does not get the provincial grant
WL Council, in light of community concerns over the budget overrun on the Fire Hall, should proceed with this project with extreme caution. Failure to do so will see a majority of this Council including Mayor Cook turfed from office with less than 10 months to go before the Nov 19th civic election
3 comments:
I am being sarcastic when i say " why can't they just move the gallery" after all the costs will not result in an increase in taxes....it can just be absorbed by the operational budget. Isn't that how the City finances are managed? Then we can always learn from the mistake again, and again and again.
Mayor Cook, Councillors Zacharias, Bourdon and Hebert have shown no concern over the City of Williams Lake financial expenditures...why start now (again I am being sarcastic). I am curious as to why there is still no City Budget posted on the website. How is anyone supposed to be informed before hand. Another concern I have in light of the Mayors recent trip and recent reports...how much money is spent on Council's and staff travel. How much is required. how much is desired? most communities just allow for staff to attend one conference a year (not counting those that are required for maintaining qualifications). I recent report showed that management staff travelled the most...they do not need to take courses to maintain qualifications...do they? I see we compared outselves to other communites in a recent per diem report. Can it be posted how much is spent on travel compared (percentage wise) to other communities.
We have recently received some positive news about potential economic growth...I pray to god that City Hall and Council do not see this as a way to justify the poor financial management that is currently occuring. There truly needs to be some people who are civic minded to either stand up and give current Mayor and Council a run for their money and also to keep spending in check.
Someone should also investigate and expose the following:
How much money taxpayers put out in severance pay since Mayor Cook and the current CAO came to work with each other...how much money is spent sending staff on more then one conference a year. Are we indeed funding the CAO's accreditation costs?Why did the Firehall project manager get away with not submitting reports for at least two of the months during the project. what is the physical calculation of the wages involved in the oversight committee. The tourism grant status (did we get that final $24,000 and if not why). Also why is that not being posted anywhere, why has it not been brought up in Council. Who is running the show here.
I challenge Mayor Cook,and CAO Carruthers to explain this to the taxpayers and I challenge them to do so in an open and transparent manner with facts supporting their report. Councillor Barr and Rathor you both sit on the Governance Committee, you both seem to show some concern...act on that concern. It is only fair to those of us who have no opportunity.
Thanks for your comment. All of your points raised are good ones. I know Council is working on the 2011 Budget as we speak (contrary to a Council Resolution that stated that the 2011 Provisional Budget was supposed to have been adopted by now).
For the record however - only Mayor Cook and Councillors Tom Barr and Geoff Bourdon sit on Council's General Governance Committee
If you wish to conact them - you can do so in the following ways
Mayor Cook - 267-1162 or kcook@williamslake.ca or mayor@williamslake.ca
Councillor Tom Barr - 392-3424 or tbarr@williamslake.ca
Councillor Geoff Bourdon - 303-2249or wake.bourdon@hotmail.com or gbourdon@williamslake.ca
My name is Diane Toop - I am the manager of the Station House Gallery. I am identified as 'anonymous' because an error keeps coming up when I try to use my name to sign in.
It is extremely doubtful that the support from the community that the Station House is receiving in support of the plan to move it would result in Council not getting votes in the fall. As the Station House manager I have been chatting with people about this for a few months now and what I see is almost all positive reactions, yes, there are a few who do not agree but not for financial reasons, and almost all who did disagree soon realize when they read or talk about it that it is the best plan to save and bring the Station House back to life.
I notice that nowhere do you or 'anonymous' mention that there is 60,000+ that has been allocated to the Station House for some time and that the amount of the Towns for Tomorrow grant that has applied for is $375,000.
And, if as you say, the Museum did not get an increase in traffic after their facelift, the Gallery situation is entirely different.
Our problem is location, one of the most commonly heard things at the Gallery? 'I have lived here forever and always forget this place exists'. The Gallery has shows that change monthly and a gift shop that brings return visitors once they discover it.
But first they have to know it is there.
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