Nicolle Hodges | [email protected]
Jasper Municipal Council voted in favour of postponing a decision to upgrade the new stage in Commemoration Park until other funding options have been explored.
It was the only clear solution in an otherwise muddled debate.
On Tuesday, Mark Fercho, chief administrative officer for Jasper, presented multiple budget options for stage upgrades.
A panel is required to power the stage and field, which is a $50,000 expense. An additional $30,000 is needed to connect the electrical system to the park.
If the park has electricity, the stage upgrade project will cost $88,500.
If the park is not connected first, the stage upgrades will cost $138,500 - $88,500 plus the $50k panel job.
“Getting the power from the transformer to the panel is the expensive part,” said Fercho.
The original project scope was reduced in order to make the existing donated $820,000 budget for construction. The intent was to upgrade the stage so it had all the features in place to be considered a high-quality product able to attract bigger musical acts and entertainment.
Some of the stage completion items put forward were seen as superfluous in comparison to the necessity of the panel for electricity.
Those items, totalling $48,500, included the roll down steel shutter walls so performers can play with some protection to their equipment, heaters to provide performer comfort in colder conditions, and trusses for lights.
Required safety and accessibility requirements like handrails and curbs will cost $25,000.
Councillor Rico Damota was the first to suggest alternative sources of revenue after expressing that he was having reservations about the expenditure.
“We got a free stage, great. But we didn’t talk about all of these possibilities,” he said.
Councillor Jenna McGrath said: “Let’s make it a usable space but we don’t have to make it fancy.”
Meanwhile, councillor Bert Journault wanted to vote in favour of the cost of bringing power to the stage but not to the field.
And councillor Paul Butler said that while it all might be needed, he felt manipulated by the process.
“Every time we embark on a project, it’s a guestimate. It’s everyone’s best take on what it’s going to cost,” he said.
The piecemeal presentation was a lot to chew on.
“We’re not finished asking for funding and nothing is written in stone,” assured Fercho.
He agreed that the conversation could be postponed until additional funding options were explored.
Councillor Wilson said that without the so-called “bells and whistles,” - retractable walls, heaters, and trusses - they won’t be gaining much revenue from the stage.
“We can make it a high-quality venue with the addition of a small amount. We should finish the stage, thank our donors, and accent the project with some of our own money,” he said.
“I agree with you but show me the money,” said councillor Damota.
Wilson said: “I’m not turning my nose at further donations but I also don’t feel comfortable asking for more.”
A motion was carried to begin seeking money from donors to complete the project and revisit the proposal at next week’s committee meeting.
Between a rock pile and a hard place
How does $40,000 worth of gravel go missing?
It’s a riddle that was solved at Jasper Municipal Council on Tuesday.
Parks Canada owns the gravel pit but the municipality is in partnership to use the site to crush rocks, which led to a significant stockpile of gravel over the years. With no real commitment to signage indicating which rock pile belonged to whom, the mixup seemed inevitable.
“There are anthill mounds all over the place,” said director of Operations, John Greathead. “Over the years, numerous smaller piles morphed and shifted and moved around.”
He asked council to write off the 2,200 cubic metres of crushed rock, saying that it’s a hard asset to track and the $40,000 value may have been arbitrarily assigned.
“It’s disappeared,” he said. “I can’t give you anything further.”
And that folks, is the answer.
When two piles of gravel morph into one among many other similar piles - so on and so forth for years - all rocks become part of the whole. Philosophical implications aside, there was another quandary: why were signs indicating ownership not a priority?
Councillor Paul Butler said: “How do you fail to post signs to protect an asset? We have no choice but to write this off.”
Greathead replied: “We had tried putting up signs but putting signs in a pile of rocks wasn’t effective.
“We were advised the site was unsecured and anyone could just go in there.
“I’m not saying there was any malicious intent, it was just loss and movement over the years.”
CAO Mark Fercho explained that in the future they want to store and secure their own assets off Parks Canada property, which will help avoid similar issues.
“We’re just going to say goodbye?” asked councillor Bert Journault of the gravel piles.
A decision will be made at the next regular meeting on March 3.
