188 replies to this topic

[CarlonCouncil]

Announcement made today that Central Saanich will be receiving $300K towards the Centennial Park Revitalization Project:

http://www2.news.gov...0010-000332.htm

Carl

[Bob Fugger]

Funny how the municipality with the most density got the least amount of money. Also, why didn't Victoria apply to the Province to help offset the costs of brining the Beacon Hill Park playground up to national safety standards, or whatever they're doing?

Nice work on pulling $300k. That's what, about $20 a head? No wonder none of the peripheral municipalities want amalgamation.

[CarlonCouncil]

Nice work on pulling $300k. That's what, about $20 a head? No wonder none of the peripheral municipalities want amalgamation.

@Bob - Thanks! In these times we are grateful for any grant funding we can track down. Yes, you are correct about $20/head.

I look forward to looking at how this will benefit the Centennial Park project!

Carl

[CarlonCouncil]

Great news for the small business owners and entrepreneurs of Central Saanich as we have recently joined Bizpal, an online tool for small business:

http://www.newsroom....oin-bizpal.html

Carl

[CarlonCouncil]

Based on what I am hearing in the media, I believe CS will be approached as a Council soon to ask if we as a municipality would be willing to make a financial contribution towards the Juno Awards bid. Now I am really torn on this question as I can see both sides of the argument. So I want to put the question out to as many CS residents as possible through the various communication mediums to ask the question: Should CS provide financial support towards the Victoria bid to host the Juno Awards?

Yes or No.

Thanks in advance for your input!

Carl

[Nparker]

...Should CS provide financial support towards the Victoria bid to host the Juno Awards? Yes or No...

If the majority say No, then if any CS residents :farmer:choose to attend the event (assuming a successful CRD bid) then they should have to pay a premium for their tickets, since as a CoV taxpayer, I have already underwritten the cost of the event. Of course I feel the same way about the Johnson Street Bridge, but that's another matter entirely.

[rjag]

For me the simple question would be "is there a direct or indirect benefit to the Municipality?"

[Mike K.]

I'm sure there are Central Saanich musicians that would benefit in some meaningful way by having the Junos in Victoria.

[Sparky]

Central Saanich will not benefit from the visitors as would Victoria. How many visitors will stay at the Waddling Dog or drink at the Prairie Inn or Blue Coyote?

A few may visit Butchart's Gardens or stay at the Brentwood Inn...but in all fairness that's about it. How much should the taxpayers contribute toward this?

Events like this should stand on it's own two feet......not my two feet.

[Mike K.]

I think we should separate the costs associated with the bid and the actual event.

The bid is where this whole region needs to invest, IMO. If the bid turns into a win then the City of Victoria hosting the event will impact the whole region in many ways.

Think of YYJ receiving a boost in passengers; BC Ferries ferrying additional trucks and buses for performers and Juno stage materials; musicians from across the CRD given the chance to perform or receive a promotional boost vis-a-vis the Junos in our region; car and truck rentals at ports of entry; tradesmen, music/sound professionals, promoters, staging installers, etc, from across the region, getting a boost in business; local attractions, especially Butchart Gardens, getting additional visits, etc, etc.

It's easy to imagine how such a high profile event will positively impact this entire region even though the City of Victoria will be taking on the role as the host municipality.

[Sparky]

^ I totally agree Mike, but in all fairness how will added visits to Butchart's Gardens benefit the taxpayer of Central Saanich?

Disclosure....I do not pay property tax in Central Saanich....Carl was looking for opinions...either pro or con....I can't help him with a pro. Neither can the good people of Metchosin I suppose.

[VicHockeyFan]

For me the simple question would be "is there a direct or indirect benefit to the Municipality?"

Many businesses that operate in Victoria have employees that live in Central Saanich, or Metchosin. Or even business OWNERS that have commercial interests downtown.

Look, there is not an industry umbrella organization that can quickly bring together all the players for a single event like this. If it was an annual event, then a private-sector industry group could figure out how to run and fund this every year with corporate sponsors, buy-in from hotels and venues etc. But it's a one-off, organized quite quickly. So the province, and yes the municipalities, should get together and fund this, then they get it back and more in hotel room taxes, HST on purchases, income tax on the workers extra hours etc. Once we secure the bid, then I'm sure organizers will go get some sponsors for what they can, within CARAS rules, as they likely already have some corporate deals we can't trump.

It's important to note that this event brings in dollars from other parts of the country, so it has greater value than say, a Canada Day fireworks show, or entertainers on the Leg lawn on Canada Day, or Symphony Splash. Real people from other parts of the country fly here for the big events, and arrive days early for the other stuff going on that week. It's not just fans for the big show, but all the support crews for the telecast, and all the industry types that come here with decent expense allowances for the week.

So, I hesitate to compare this to the Olympics, because A) we don't need to build expensive infrastructure to do this, and B) we don't have the big security budget an Olympics brings, and C) there is not a big disruption to the public during the event. But, like the Olympics, it brings in OUTSIDE dollars that would not come here otherwise, and it brings them in in the shoulder season (hotel rooms packed in March/April!), so it provides extra hours for hotel and hospitality workers that would not normally see the extra cash at this time of year.

I'm the first guy to call BS when an arts group says that their $15,000 grant gets multiplied 7x or whatever because they get it back in ticket sales taxes or whatever. I call BS because I say that discretionary spending by locals will happen anyway, whether Blue Bridge has a show running, or instead of going to a show, the public attends White Spot for a meal with that same entertainment dollar. But this event brings in money from outside the community, there is no doubt about that. For this reason, the municipalities ought to kick in.

[rjag]

Many businesses that operate in Victoria have employees that live in Central Saanich, or Metchosin. Or even business OWNERS that have commercial interests downtown.

Bingo! I was wondering how long it would take to get this response. There are many CS residents that work in the core and some may even work in hospitatlity or ancillary services. There are even tax paying businesses located in CS that may benefit directly or indirectly from this event.

Sometimes you have to spend money to make money, sometimes you may not realise a direct benefit but its there.....

[CarlonCouncil]

Thanks to the VV crew for their thoughtful input, I was pretty sure my question would spark a great debate!

I think the last 2 comments from @VicHockeyFan and @rjag are reinforcing one of the biggest lessons I have learned since being elected and that has to do with the resident/business linkages and dependencies between all 13 of the municipalities in the Victoria area. We are not 13 independent silos working, living, etc independently of each other. I live in CS, however I might spend money throughout 3-5 different municipalities depending on the day of the week and as a result of that spending, who knows how many people in even more municipalities will benefit from the success of those respective businesses.

Great responses that have given me a great deal to consider!

Carl

[CarlonCouncil]

Busy evening tonight at the CS Muni Hall as we managed 4 meetings between 6:15-9:30!!
· In Camera
· Public Hearing – Re: 2nd monopole on the PBH opposite Tanner Ridge
· Special Council Mtg
· Planning & Development Committee
o Portside Marine
o Artisan proposal for Sassy’s property

The most heavily attended portion of the evening was for the Portside Marina proposal which saw a heavy opposition from the Moodyville residents. In the end after much correspondence, many speakers and discussion between the Committee and the proponent, the unanimous decision of the Committee was to reject the proposal as presented and the suggestion was made that the proponent should go back to attempting to work with the residents to see if any common ground might be found between the two sides. I spoke in support of this decision as I felt there was potential for a closer agreement between the two sides.

Artisan Development – Quicker discussion on this proposal due to the much smaller gallery attendance for this portion of the meeting. After a brief discussion, the final decision of the Committee was to go with Option 2 from the background materials: Refer details of proposal as submitted to CRD after first readings of required bylaw amendments to gauge level of CRD support for the RCS amendment and urban containment boundary changes that would be required. I was in support of this motion.

That’s it from tonight’s meetings, thanks to all of the residents that came out tonight or sent in their correspondence to contribute to the dialogue!

Carl

[Mike K.]

Thanks for the update, Carl!

With respect to the Artisan proposal, can you provide us with details as to project height, uses, units, etc?

[CarlonCouncil]

@Mike - Will do, will drop some info into the thread I started on that proposal for West Saanich at Keating in the Saanich Peninsula thread. Will likely be few days as I am into Highland games mode from now until about Monday afternoon!! Hope to see some VV faithful at the Games over the weekend, I will be competing Sat am and then MC'ing for the rest of the heavy events competition over Sat and Sun, so come by the field and say hello!

Carl

[Mike K.]

Thanks, Carl, and good luck to you at the games

[CarlonCouncil]

@Mike - Thanks!! I get underway at 8:00am on Saturday in the Men's Amateur B class, and yes, we WILL be tossing cabers!! I lobbyed hard for an "Elected Officials" class this year but I was not successful!! Maybe next year if I can get another "Elected Official" to go toe to toe with!!

Carl

[CarlonCouncil]

Sometimes you have to spend money to make money, sometimes you may not realise a direct benefit but its there.....

Central Saanich Council tonight voted 4-2 in favour of backing the Victoria bid to host the Juno’s in 2014 for a financial contribution of $15K (which is just shy of $1/resident). There was a great discussion around the table of supporting an event for the Greater Victoria area as a whole and that there will be the potential for potential spin-off events in Central Saanich or on the Peninsula. I am happy that CS is on board with the bid!

Carl