Blossom program nipped in the bud
Councillor’s motion to use surplus snow removal money shot down
It appears the municipality’s popular flower and beautification program will not be given a second birth this year.
District 5 Coun. Eldon MacDonald proposed that CBRM council take another look at the annual $100,000 blossoming initiative, administered by Business Cape
Breton, that was sacrificed earlier this month when council voted unanimously to approve a $147 million operating budget that Mayor Cecil Clarke described as a “hold your nose budget.”
MacDonald, who also serves as deputy mayor, said he asked that the matter be put back on Tuesday evening’s council agenda after he and other elected representatives received plenty of negative feedback about the program’s discontinuation.
“Since it was cancelled, myself and other councillors have heard from constituents, people in the streets, organizations and community groups that have been disappointed in the cancellation of it,” he told council.
“So, I think, similar to what we did last year with heavy garbage when it was cut and if there was a surplus it was to be reinstated, so I’m asking for the same opportunity here — If there is a snow removal surplus, hopefully there will be enough to reinstate the program, but if there is no surplus then the program wouldn’t be reinstated, so it would be purely based on the ability for us to have a surplus from that snow removal.”
But while his council colleagues agreed that hanging flower baskets are a nice touch around the CBRM’s various community centres, they were adamant that the cashstrapped municipality stay the course on its decision to spend the money elsewhere.
“I’m not sure why this is coming up again,” stated District 11 Coun. Kendra Coombes.
“We’re in an extreme economic condition this year — we were all in agreement that the focus needed to be on our needs and not our wants and in my opinion these flowers, specifically hanging baskets, that only last a summer and maybe into fall are a want.” Coombes, who suggested that any surplus funds would be better spent on fixing CBRM roads, said grassroots initiatives to beautify the various downtowns would go a long way towards instilling greater community pride.
District 10 councillor Darren Bruckschwaiger, who said he also thought the matter had been decided, cautioned council that talk of possible surplus funds will only lead to more requests for CBRM funding.
“The talk here is if there is a surplus, well, there are a lot of groups out there that when they hear there is a possibility of a surplus will be looking to get back on the agenda to get money — they’ll probably be on a list at the next council meeting,” said the veteran councillor.
After a lengthy debate, council voted against MacDonald’s motion to consider allocating any surplus dollars to the flower program.
Meanwhile, the budgetary decision to nip the blossoming program proved a blow to at least one horticultural business. Mabou Gardens owner James Sawler said he’s been left with some 200 commercialsized hanging flower baskets as he had to commit to the purchase of plants, soils and other materials back in November.
However, it’s unlikely, at least in Sydney, that the downtown area will not be adorned with some flowers as the Sydney Waterfront District has committed about $7,800 toward the beautification of the central core of the municipality’s largest community.
MacDonald noted he’s concerned about the public perception that Sydney may be getting flowers even though the blossoming program lost its funding.
“I feel it’s important to all of our downtowns and the various communities where the flowers were, so I felt there might be a possibility that people would think it was cancelled but that we kept it for Sydney, but that would be purely on the strength of the Sydney Waterfront District and the investment they see that makes a difference in their business districts.”