In the past month, council has approved the purchase of a Bobcat Versahandler with a total cost of more than $70 thousand as well as a contract, worth a maximum cost of $40 thousand dollars, to build a lock-block retaining wall on Bowen Island Trunk road between the BC ferries washrooms and the cenotaph. At council this week, concerned citizen Bill Granger questioned council members as to why they agreed to waive municipal purchasing policies on these decisions, and the appropriateness of using surplus funds to pay for them.
"My understanding, from everything I've read, from an interview with you (Mayor Adelaar) in the Undercurrent, and from my discussions with you individually, is that money is very tight," said Granger. "So somehow, we suddenly found up to $40 thousand for an additional lock-block wall to be added on to another project? I understand there may have been some savings in doing this, but the point is there was not money in the capital or the operating budget identified for that purpose."
Kirsten Watson, the municipality's manager of finance, says the money for the project comes from the 2013 budget for roads and capital work which has not been fully expensed this year.
"We weren't planning on this project," says Watson, "the work being done by BC Ferries on the sewer main presented an opportunity for us to widen the sidewalk."
