Town council has chosen not to lobby Vancouver Island University regarding cuts to tutoring programs after VIU reached out to the town.
"We can see that the university reads the papers," said chief administrative officer Daniel Sailland, referring to media reports from a recent meeting where councillors expressed concerns about the possible cuts.
Council had planned to lobby VIU to keep the service, but accepted the explanation that the university is struggling to balance priorities "like everyone else," Sailland said. They will continue services at the Nanaimo campus and will consider returning to town in the future, he said. Briefly in other news from Monday night's meeting:
• Council approved three events for the coming months: The annual Fire and Ice Street Festival with chilli and ice sculptures will be held on Saturday, May 2 throughout the streets of the village centre, centred on Second Avenue with street closures from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.; The Kwalikum Secondary Prom Parade will run Saturday, May 30 from the school along Village Way, Memorial Avenue and Second Avenue to the civic centre with road closures from 5 to 6 p.m.; The Qualicum Beach Triathlon will be held again this summer on Sunday, June 28, starting and finishing at the Ravensong Aquatic Centre with road closures for the running and biking portions on surrounding streets from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Council approved a number of rental subsidies for the civic centre and community hall: the KSS Fine Arts Society will pay $346 instead of $1,220; the QB Downtown Business Association will pay $933 instead of $1,436 for their dance party fundraiser and $933 instead of $1,000 for What Women Want; KSS Dry Grad gets the $1,045 civic centre use for free; St. Marks Anglican Church will pay $238 instead of $626; the Oceanside Volunteer Association will pay $457 instead of $676; the chamber of commerce will pay $1,300 instead of $1,856; and the Pacific Salmon Foundation will pay $1,748 instead of $2,251.