The city will not use its public art reserve to fund a Special Olympics legacy project, despite one councillor’s attempt to do so.
Coun. Cam MacKay’s motion, which suggested using the reserve funds instead of new money for the proposed $25,000 work, was defeated Monday night. MacKay and Couns. Malcolm Parker and Roger Lemieux voted for the motion.
The motion stems from a budget amendment last year, sponsored by Mayor Nolan Crouse, which saw $25,000 added to the operating and capital budgets for a legacy project. MacKay argued that money is unnecessary because the project could be funded from the public art reserve. Per the city’s Public Art policy, between one half and one per cent of the cost of eligible municipal projects are placed in reserve for the acquisition of public art for the building. It can also be transferred or pooled for future art projects.
“When I look at all the other needs, this is an extremely lucrative plum to have and if we’re going have a reserve to fund art, it should fund art,” MacKay said.
He used the example of the city building a new police station, which might or might not happen in the near future — at a value of $45 million, that would put $40,000 into the reserve, but the public only has access to a very limited portion of the building where art could be placed. That would leave a balance that could be used to fund the Special Olympics legacy project.
While the reserve at present only has a balance of $8,500, MacKay said that he doesn’t “see why we’re precluded of going into a deficit when next year we’ll be flush with cash.”
Acting city manager Chris Jardine said MacKay’s assumptions were correct when it comes to municipal projects where it is difficult to install any kind of public art.
“If it makes no sense whatsoever then the monies would be taken and used somewhere else,” Jardine said. “That’s not perfectly proscribed in the policy.”
Crouse disagreed with MacKay’s motion, saying previous councils had done so much good with art in the past, he felt future councils should continue the trend.
“While there’s criticism about whether or not council should have bought those [Steinhauer] sculptures, 30 or 40 years from now someone will say, ‘Boy, I’m glad they did that. Those sculptures are beautiful,’” Crouse said. “I think what we have to do is reinforce that when you’re spend money on art, you’re spending it for future generations to enjoy.”
