The Town of Qualicum Beach is planning to implement a bench policy separate from its sponsorship program.
Manger of operations, Arnold Schwabe, made a report to council at its regular meeting on Oct. 27. He said creating just a bench program would make it easier to manage and also provide residents with assurances that once a bench is in place, it will always be in place.
“It won’t depend on somebody sponsoring it or a budget, or any kind of changes,” Schwabe explained. “For us, it’s easier to manage that from a budgeting perspective. It’s more consistent. It follows good asset management practices. We would pick strategic locations. We would define those in a level of service whether it’s a mountain, parks or on specific trails. And it eliminates the question of what happens to a bench if nobody sponsors it.”
Schwabe suggested the memorial dedication policy just be maintained as a memorial dedication and that it shouldn’t be limited to only benches.
“It can be picnic tables, rocks, trees anything like that,” said Schwabe. “It would be easier for us. I think it would also lower the cost of entry because one of the other concerns that our residents have had is $2,000 is a lot to sponsor a bench.”
Schwabe warned council the option he presented carries financial implications as it will increase the budget for the bench program. He informed council if they want to move towards this direction, this will be the right time to discuss the policy and costs as the town is poised to start budget deliberations for 2022.
The town took out benches from various locations in the community as the duration of the sponsorship for most of them have expired and have not been renewed. Some also were old and worn out. But residents were not happy to see the benches go and expressed their displeasure to town council.
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Last September, Coun. Teunis Westbroek made a motion directing staff to replace where appropriate the benches that were removed.
“We have about five to six currently that have been placed on the waterfront,” said Schwabe. “As in the report, we are having issues sourcing materials. We have 15 benches built sort of ready to go. We are just waiting for the legs. There’s been a delay on any kind of manufacturing. We’ve been assured twice that they are in construction. We have about a dozen locations identified where we know there are issues. And as soon as we get the legs, our first priority is to replace those benches.”
Westbroek appreciated the work done by Schwabe and supports the option presented. He said they will be looking for a report to discuss when they start the town’s financial planning.
Coun. Robert Filmer would also like to see cheaper options for memorial dedications.
Coun. Scott Harrison said it would be good idea for the town to keep residents updated on the benches by posting the developments and information on the timelines on town’s website or via public posting. He also pointed the need to consider the vulnerable section of the population and how the benches can help them.
“I do hope we also look at how do we make sure that if we have hotter summers, which is a potential with climate change, that we have bench locations that take the health of some of our more vulnerable seniors into account,” said Harrison.
Council directed staff to present to council the changes to the bench policy and how it separates the memorial part from the maintenance aspect.