Dear Editor
At the Cache Creek Council meeting on Sept. 29, a land purchase was finally made public that has been kept securely behind closed doors for about the past year.
We were told that the purchase is to provide the village a way to deal with flooding from the hayfield behind the community park. I don’t understand why the community would take on that problem, since it should be something the other landowner would need to prevent.
Also, the idea that this is a ‘legacy’ for the town for expanded park space was given - this was the basis for the application for subdivision at the TNRD and with the Agricultural Land Commission. The cost of the land - for five acres of flooding hayfield - was quoted as $137,000 but Council also approved a fence for over $7,000 at this meeting.
Just the base cost appears to me to be over $27,000 an acre. To make this land usable will take more capital spending - spending not even shown in the Council’s last five-year spending plan! And, of course, this wasn’t included in the Annual Plan as passed in July.
This is just another ‘gift’ that will keep on taking. Mayor Ranta said the cost of future development didn’t need to be in the budget because the Landfill Legacy Fund (rapidly depleting as it is) means the money is there whenever it’s needed! I have been a financial administrator for many years and that kind of sloppy budgeting just wouldn’t be acceptable where I worked.
I think Cache Creek needs to expect more from its council - more information, more community outreach on major decisions, more careful planning and costing of major projects, and a more forward-looking, active strategy for growth based on the assets we have. We can’t afford the ‘nice to have’ things versus spending that will produce a return on the money invested.
This was the last straw for me, and I am putting myself forward as a candidate for mayor in the coming election. You will get to know me better as I circulate my information, get my website up, and start to meet you at your door or in the community. I hope we can have an exciting, informative election process and one of the highest voter turnouts in Cache Creek history!
Marg Durnin
Cache Creek