Five fee-for-service agreements will be increased if city council approves the recommendations it made at the committee of the whole meeting Tuesday, Jan. 31.
Finance committee chair Joan Flaspohler led the discussion, making motions for each of the increases.
Williams Lake Hospice Society will receive $20,000 annually for an increase of $3,000 each year. The society had requested a $5,100-annual increase.
Scout Island Nature Centre will see an increase of $7,500 each year, bringing its annual amount to $20,000, which the society had requested.
Coun. Sheila Boehm voted against the increase, saying the funds will go toward the salary of the executive director.
The other council members voted in favour, arguing while there is the one staff position, 1,000s of volunteer hours are generated at Scout Island and the executive director has secured more than $600,000 in grant funding over the years.
For the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society, council approved $37,000 a year which includes a $12,500 increase. Council members said the CCCS takes a lot of pressure off the city, and the recycling education provided by the society is very important for the community.
The Potato House Society had requested an increase of $10,000 a year more, however, Flaspohler recommended $5,000, which will mean the society will receive $15,000 a year.
The Chamber of Commerce’s fee-for-service agreement will increase to $160,000 a year.
At the Jan. 24 council meeting, after a heated debate, council deferred making a decision on the chamber’s fee-for-service agreement, with Flaspohler saying there are nine fee-for-service applicants requesting increases and they should be considered together.
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Council voted unanimously to approve the $160,000 amount for the chamber, although Boehm and Mayor Surinderpal Rathor said while they would have liked to see the amount be $165,000, which the chamber had requested, they respected Flaspohler’s suggestion.
An application from Willie Dye for the Stampede Parade to have a fee-for-service agreement was denied because applicants have to be a registered not-for-profit agency.
Dye stepped up to organize the parade last year when Williams Lake Daybreak Rotary decided it could no longer do it, and the city gave Dye a one-time $15,000 grant for the parade.
The Rotarians helped Dye with leadership and resources for the 2022 parade, said director of community service Stacey Miranda in a report to council.
Council directed staff to set aside $10,000 in the budget to go toward the parade and put out an expression of interest request to explore the opportunity of any group wanting to put on the parade and bring back a report to council.
Rathor said he’d like to see Dye given the opportunity and Delainey suggested perhaps Dye can find a not-for-profit society to work with.
In his application, Dye noted he would like to form a not-for-profit society for the parade.
Coun. Scott Nelson was not present at the meeting.
monica.lamb-yorski@wltribune.com
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