by Al Drummond Today’s City of Powell River council continues to embark upon a path of building a new library. It appears that the location is still the old arena site on the waterfront.
Taxpayers need to decide if they want their hard-earned tax dollars paying for a new state-of-the-art library located on, what I would think would be, a million-dollar-plus piece of prime waterfront property.
The city’s own financial statements show that the library loses hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, and has been doing so for the last number of years. While we don’t expect that a library should make a profit, we do expect that at the very least our elected officials will do their best to keep costs in check. How are costs to be kept in check when we are talking about borrowing millions of dollars to build a facility on prime waterfront property? A facility, I might add, that will not contribute any tax dollars to the city’s coffers.
Now, there are some who would say that you can’t put a price on culture. I think that in this day and age, with the economy the way it is, we had better start thinking about it. I am not against a library per se, I realize that there are people who cannot afford the Internet or the current technology that allows many of us to read books and do research without going to a library. After all, this is the way the world is going, like it or not.
I know the city (better known as the taxpayers) has other properties, and they should be considered long before the waterfront property location is committed. As a suggestion, at the very least, if council will not back off on the location, then a private component should be sought to help alleviate costs. That could take the form of a long-term lease of the property to a private developer—have them build the library on the ground floor and put condos (or?) above that will generate tax dollars for the community. Have the developer provide greenspace, et cetera. This can be done; it is done in other places.
Let’s also not forget that Catalyst Paper Corporation is in receivership at the present time, businesses are closing, some are leaving. Should we not be saying, “let’s pull back” and do with what we have for now, until the future has more certainty?
I urge all residents to become informed on this issue. Check the facts and figures for yourself. Make an informed decision; it is your tax dollars. If this goes to a referendum you will have the chance to influence the decision.
Al Drummond has lived and worked in Powell River since 1970 and is a concerned resident who wants to see the cost of government at all levels reduced.
