Dear Editor:
I support a library expansion provided it qualifies as an economic feasible priority. I commend the library board and its staff for the services they provide to the community. However, I am concerned Rimbey’s mayor and council acted hastily without considering the broader implications and consequences of their decision. I’m worried they acted injudiciously when they voted to give a disproportionate allocation of taxpayer resources to the library at the expense of more important infrastructure priorities. This is the essence of my concerns.
Selling or leasing the town offices, (currently valued at $650,000), to fund a questionable library expansion has the effect of making every other infrastructure priority subservient. Could the lodge use an extra $650,000? Could FCSS use an additional $650,000 to improve the quality of life for our seniors? Could Rimbey make use of a dialysis machine? I know there are dozens of other community groups in Rimbey in need of funding. Why don’t these organizations at least get a portion of the $650,000? The curling club needs funding to pay their utility costs. There is a long list of needs in this community.
I apologize if supporters of the library take offense when I say their data is questionable. I do question the library board’s data; it is the right of every taxpayer. The library’s standard previously referenced is not outdated, as some have claimed. The space planning formula (worksheets) used to calculate floor space in 2003 did not change in 2011. It’s the same formula today as it was in 2003. The board’s population data on the other hand is duplicitous. There are three local school libraries nearby and each serves their student population. I note the library board is including this student population in their calculations to justify an expansion. Further, the Rimbey library board says it served 37,674 visitors in 2012. Rimbey’s population is 2,400 people, and the entire population of Ponoka County, from Bashaw to Clearwater County, is less than 10,000. The truth is the library is only serving 1,155 outstanding active library cards.
According to the library board’s logic, the county (per capita) should fund the library $2 for every $1 the town contributes. In this context, if the town contributes $650,000, the county should contribute $1.3 million. Boy! I bet the county would question this proportionate logic.
I understand the library board wants more space. I get it, but they can expand without taking a $650,000 asset from the taxpayers of Rimbey. There is ample space in Rimbey to accommodate an expansion. The library doesn’t need space for books; it wants more space for programs. There is 2,800 square feet of unused space in the community centre. The town has a joint use agreement for additional space with two schools. Space is available all around town for additional library programs if people get creative. The town’s offices don’t have to relocate to accommodate a library expansion.
MLAs are currently working hard to keep infrastructure dollars flowing to rural communities. Edmonton and Calgary’s mayors are lobbying daily to get more control of infrastructure dollars. While this is happening, the Rimbey mayor and council voted to give away $650,000 worth of its infrastructure to the library. The timing couldn’t be worse. Rimbey is struggling to secure infrastructure funding for a new lodge.
The premier has made it absolutely clear; everything is on the table as we go into the next provincial budget. The province is going into debt. Ministers and MLAs are working to squeeze value from every dollar and nickel out of next year’s budget. Demands to get more value out of our current infrastructure enjoy overwhelming bipartisan support. Why this mayor and council think this is the best time to give away a $650,000 asset, and then have the province subsidize the town office’s rent is interesting, but it doesn’t make sense.
It’s possible the province will subsidize the town’s rent. It’s possible there will be little sympathy and no appetite at the provincial level to subsidize the town’s rent. It’s possible, when it comes to competing against Rimbey for infrastructure dollars, every other rural mayor will remind the government that Rimbey gave or leased away the town’s infrastructure. Lots of possibilities, and there is lots to think about.
A library is an important component of a community. I do not marginalize its value, but we have a very good library. A petition has been started asking this mayor and council to delay this decision until an election can be held. It’s a reasonable request in an election year to let voters decide.
Joe Anglin