Flower decision next week
Sydney Waterfront District to meet and discuss floral project
The Sydney Waterfront District will have more concrete plans on its own blossoming program for downtown Sydney following a meeting with its executive on Thursday.
Michelle Wilson, executive director of the Sydney Waterfront District, said she plans to speak with James Sawler, owner of Mabou Gardens, on Monday to see what ideas would work best for Charlotte Street.
The region-wide Cape Breton Regional Municipality blossoming project was shelved on March 7 due to municipal budgetary constraints.
The project, administered by Business Cape Breton, was estimated to cost the municipality $100,000 this year.
The decision leaves some community development groups looking to find ways to pay for hanging baskets themselves or find other ways to beautify downtown areas this spring and summer.
Wilson said the Sydney Waterfront District has worked with Mabou Gardens, based in Northeast Mabou, for the past couple of seasons on its own program where merchants would purchase whisky baskets of planted flowers to adorn their storefronts.
The CBRM-wide program did incorporate funding from the various downtown development associations and Wilson said the money contributed by the waterfront district could possibly go toward their own blossoming program this year.
“We had a decent budget anyway yearafter-year for flowers so my plan is to keep that allotted money and do something. Right now, I don’t know what that looks like.”
Sawler was left with about 200 commercial-sized hanging flower baskets after CBRM council cut the project from this year’s budget.
He said earlier this week that it’s stressful financially when providing flowers to the municipality because he must commit to buying the plants, soil and materials in November, while the CBRM won’t know until March that it’s been approved through the municipal budget.
The large commercial baskets are currently for sale at $135 a piece, and although Sawler hasn’t confirmed how many people are willing to buy one, he expects to make a profit in the end.