It will be interesting to see how Olds councillors deal with last week’s request from the Olds Regional Exhibition (ORE).
In a pitch to council on Nov. 25, ORE executive director Tracy Gardner asked council for $100,000 a year. Or, she suggested, the town could take over the operation of the agricultural group.
During her presentation, Gardner said if that doesn’t happen, ORE would likely have to continue selling off assets until there’s nothing left. However, she later told reporters that total sell-off is likely a very last resort.
Council didn’t give her an immediate answer. Gardner’s presentation was received as information and council was expected to discuss it further.
As Mayor Muzychka told reporters, that ask has implications for the upcoming town budget.
Big implications.
After all, $100,000 is a lot of money for a town this size to disburse to any one entity on an annual basis.
Similarly, absorbing ORE into the town would also be expensive.
Gardner is right that ORE is an important link between Olds residents and businesses and the surrounding agricultural community. No doubt about that.
But these are tough times – not only for ORE, but for the town and local residents.
The United Conservative Party government is cutting back on many fronts, including the amount of money it shares with municipalities. That in turn means the town has less money to spend.
So is keeping ORE afloat as great or greater a priority for councillors than, for example, upkeep of roads or sewer and water services?
We’re about to find out in the next few weeks.
Doug Collie is the editor of the Olds Albertan.
