Community Arts Council Debt Settlement

I don't usually comment on specific Council decisions. However, Council's recent resolution to accept a Baby Grand piano from the Community Arts Council, in lieu of an outstanding debt owed to the City has caused a fair bit of discussion in the community. I thought it would be appropriate to highlight some points that people may not have considered or been aware of in relation to Council's decision.

The debt owed to the City was for outstanding lease fees for their occupancy of the Heritage House wing of Cariboo Lodge. This space was provided to the CAC as an interim measure after they had been evicted from their previous home when the City acquired Skyline School for the new Firehall. Fees for use of Heritage House were based on their annual cost of operating the Skyline facility. In the meantime, the City had provided some assurance to the CAC that the old Firehall would be available to them once it was vacated by the Fire Department and renovated.

During their occupation of Heritage House, the CAC experienced some significant financial challenges that prevented them from paying their rent to the City for the better part of a year, totalling $9163.

The City had been working with the CAC for over a year to determine a method for the CAC to satisfy their debt, in spite of their limited funding sources and financial situation. The proposal to "sell" the piano to the City in lieu of their debt was examined by staff and recommended to Council with consideration of the non-profit nature of the organization which has been historically supported by the City (and CRD) through Grants in Aide. The alternative of having the CAC sell the piano to a third party and pay the City with the proceeds was not preferable as the Complex (and its users) would then lose the benefit of a Baby Grand piano, which has served many performances, events, memorial services, etc. in the Gibraltar Room over the years. At the end of the day, the City now owns a piano worth well more than the debt owed to the City and the CAC has satisfied their debt and can move forward with a clean slate. More importantly, the community continues to benefit from the piano.

It should be noted that City Councils often come to unique arrangements with non-profits due to the fact that non-profits are just that and are generally involved in providing valuable service to the community or a sector of the community. If Council was not prepared to be flexible with the CAC, their ability to provide services to the community would certainly have been compromised which would in some ways contradict Council's Strategic Goal of supporting Arts and Culture by "Developing and Implementing and Arts and Culture Plan".