Some comments on Council Meeting on June 09, 2008
After point 7. of the Agenda “REPORTS ADMINISTRATION” was brought to the table, I had problems with the presentations of the subsections “a. Farmers request for annexation update – Director Morrison” and “d. Summer Soccer Coordinator Position – Request for Decision No. 012-2008”.
Mr. Morrison showed the Councillors and the audience the more “technical” steps to be taken to make any annexation and an extension of the Town’s boundaries become a reality. To me, he was dancing around the key point of the farmers’ request. The farmers were turned down by Kings County Council to have their land parcel of about 400 ac rezoned from “agricultural” to “industrial/residential”. Fury Farms even withdrew court documents filed with the Kentville Supreme Court. The farmers now seem to see a better chance to become “millionaires” by giving Wolfville an opportunity. Would the farmers still ask for an annexation if the Town would make it clear that there would be no rezoning?
Only Councilman Zimmerman tried to clarify that an annexation does not automatically mean a rezoning to “industrial/residential” and that there will be some contradictions in relation to the sustainability issues of the new MPS draft.
Mr. Stead, Mayor of Wolfville, obviously abandoned the Town’s suggested sustainability ideas in a published interview with The Chronicle Herald on May 06, 2008 despite the fact that he had been sitting for about two years through the Sustainability Task Force meetings and the Planning Advisory MPS meetings as a member.
A rezoning would stir up a lot of controversy, for sure.
The request for a money grant by Mr. Fry, Director Department and Community Services, and a representative of the local Soccer Club and the discussion at the table thereafter took an unbelievable more than 20 minutes time slot. There is no amount for a grant to the Soccer Club in the approved Budget 2008/2009 and everybody present in the Council Chambers was told that there would be no money support from provincial and/or federal sources as well.
The representative left an emotional fart by talking about the 120 children as members in addition to about 70 adult members. For children the fee for the season was quoted at $65 each. In my sports club parents pay $45 a month and not for an entire season of three or more months.
Councillor Segado suggested that the fees at least for the adults should be increased instead of asking the Town for a grant. This was countered by the representative with the unqualified arguments that adults had their registration fees paid already and that an increase of the fees for the children would be quite a burden for families with three children. I really would like to know how many families have 3 kids in the club.
To me it sounded almost hypocritical when Councillor Zimmerman suggested that the Soccer Club should try to stay sustainable and without grants from third parties after he had voted for the Budget 2008/2009 which included a $20,000 grant to the Al Whittle Theatre.
Astonishingly, I had to learn as well that the Soccer club has a reserve (contingency) fund of about $5,000 which the representative doesn’t’t want to be touched to pay a soccer coordinator.
During the discussions the requested amount came down from $1,900 to $1,200 and even to $620. Any amount would have made the representative happy. The CAO warned that the money for a grant could only be taken out of the contingency fund and $1,900 would deplete it by 20%. Why should it be taken out of the Town’s contingency fund and not out of the Soccer Club’s one?
At the end the Council voted 4 to 2 in favour of a grant in the amount of $1,900.
At least some Councillors seem to have learned nothing from the uproar during the recent public budget meetings. What a charade!
Lutz E. Becker / June 10, 2008
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