THE BIGGEST local story of 2011 was the $375,000 that arrived from the province as a mid-summer surprise. It was meant to help pay for the Davis Ave. reconstruction project. But by the time it arrived, the city financed the project on its own, meaning the city then had spare cash. This set the stage for a series of council debates about what to do. It boiled down to two choices with both, ironically, involving the word “co-op” and both turning out to be hot potatoes.
Council eventually decided to use the lion’s share of the Victoria cash to tear down the former Terrace Co-op building. Arguably this was the best choice for the money. Ridding the landscape of the graffiti-decorated building was as much a psychological plus as it was a physical necessity to clear the way for whatever will take place next on the property.
The other co-op was My Mountain Co-op and the debate to spend $200,000 (motion defeated) then $91,000 (motion also defeated) and, finally, $15,000 (motion passed almost as a consolation prize) on supporting the co-op’s efforts to take over the Shames Mountain ski facility provoked some of the more tense council sessions in years.
Interestingly enough, the Victoria money revealed how difficult it is to actually come to agreement on what to do when extra cash surfaces. Council seems far more united when it has no money. There’s a lesson in there somewhere.