by Muriel Higgins I wrote the letter below, which was published in the Peak in November 2001. On re-reading it you will notice the problems mentioned—the sewage and garbage disposal systems. Both are still unresolved. Powell River Public Library also was up for debate at the time, just like now.
“Time for frugality
Through this paper I wish to address our municipal mayor and council on their proposed free-wheeling spending of taxpayers’ dollars—with the exception of Linda Misner and Don Gemmell, who have been voices of reason on this subject from the start—thank you both.
Cancel the sea walk.
Forget choosing a location for a new library.
Put all other unnecessary expenses on hold.
Ladies and gentlemen of council are well aware—or should be—that Powell River’s economy has been in a slump for some time.
Then, last week, our economy took another major hit with the announcement from NorskeCanada of the layoff of 282 employees [“NorskeCanada axes kraft,” October 17].
Our tax base is shrinking—we simply cannot afford these projects. We have a terribly expensive problem to solve with our sewage disposal system. And our garbage disposal system was to be a temporary fix—one of these days this system could come to a sudden end—then what? I repeat, we can not afford these wish-list projects.
Your standard answer to all of Powell River’s problems seems to be tourism and/or making it a retirement town. Until the ferries are free, tourism won’t ever be enough to keep the town afloat. Furthermore, tourism creates low-paying jobs.
We need industrial-strength wages in order to fund the grandiose plans council folks have in mind, and they are not forthcoming at the present time. And if municipal leaders continue spending and in turn raising taxes, retirees surely won’t come here to retire.
Please take a step back and, as you would do in your own home if the money was tight, settle for the necessities and shelve the dreams until you can afford them.”
We must try to find the monies for the two necessities but the library will have to wait because we couldn’t afford it in 2001 and we certainly cannot afford it now.
I rest my case.
Muriel Higgins is 81 years old and has lived in Powell River since she was two.
