COLUMN: Budget recommendations

Decisions, decisions, decisions. Municipal budget deliberations are underway and every year the shopping list gets longer.

A proposal for more Sunday and holiday buses and enhanced service between Garibaldi Village and downtown Squamish during off-peak periods has plenty of upside. Improved service to Brackendale and express service between Garibaldi Village and downtown is also being considered. 

The net total for the whole package comes in at just under $65,000.

A request to move some evening programs from the beleaguered Brennan Park Rec Centre to the underutilized Squamish Seniors Centre also has considerable merit. 

Although the tab is in the vicinity of $90,000, the cost to the municipality will be closer to $20,000 annually because rental and programming revenue will be generated to cover extra costs. 

The Squamish Public Library is asking for $78,000 to continue the security guard service that was launched in October 2015. 

Since the inception of that provision patrons and staff say the environment in the library has become friendlier and more welcoming. With each passing year the facility is gaining prominence as a social and educational centre and ongoing enhancements will help support those functions.

The library is also looking for funding to enlarge the Children’s and Youth Services Programming. That expansion will be a welcome addition in a community with one of the fastest growth rates and youngest populations in the province. 

Over the years participation in programs for school-aged children has expanded and over 400 children were registered in the Summer Reading Club in 2016. 

Frankly, given the essential service the library provides, at $6,455 this request is seriously undervalued and should likely be double, or even triple, that amount.

And then we come to a thornier request: a plea for an off-leash dog park that will lighten muni coffers by $100,000. 

The prevailing rationale is since there are almost as many pooches as people in town why not offer our canine companions more free range opportunities? But should taxpayers be on the hook for 100 grand when most adjacent parks and green spaces are already de facto off-leash zones? 

Finally, under the “You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me” heading, a $210,000 trails and sidewalks maintenance vehicle with almost as many bells and whistles as Lady Gaga’s recent Super Bowl extravaganza is on the District’s budgetary radar. How about tracking down a piece of equipment at half that price and setting aside more funds for the above mentioned community and kids programs?

That being said, if the request does get the nod from council will there be a guarantee the apparatus will be deployed to clear snow from downtown sidewalks and street medians? 

Both of those conditions have become a source of frustration for residents and an ongoing embarrassment for the District of Squamish.