By our count the question on the Tawatinaw Valley Ski Hill has been answered twice in the past 12 months — once by residents and the other time by council. Do we really need a third kick at the can?
Last October, Westlock County ratepayers voted “yes” to get rid of the hill, compared to 866 who cast “no” ballots.
The question, just so we’re all on the same page, read: “Knowing the operating cost impact of the Tawatinaw Valley Ski Hill on the annual operating budget, are you in favour of selling the Tawatinaw Ski Hill Facility regardless of whether it remains a hill or is used for different purposes?”
Although we respected the vote, we’ve never been in favour of selling the hill and urged the county not to divest itself. Too much public money, including roughly $3 million on the new chalet (which ratepayers continue to pay for via a debenture), has already been spent to just walk away.
But armed with that vote, county council began its due diligence in the months following and met with interested parties. Things looked promising until the stunning July 24 announcement that the facility would be shuttered for good Oct. 1.
At the time it was a bit of a head-scratcher since two parties had expressed interest, so we figured that something could have been negotiated.
Of course in the case of Tawatinaw, the story was far from over.
After a standing-room-only Aug. 14 council meeting and an in-camera session, councillors voted 5-2 to direct administration to craft a three-year operating agreement with the Friends of Tawatinaw Working Group, including its submission on a capital upgrade plan. Councillors Dennis Primeau and Fred Slobodian voted against it.
So the story was over, right? Wrong.
Here we are, a little less than two months following that decision and now Primeau is pushing for a “binding” plebiscite on Tawatinaw, which will be discussed at council’s Nov. 13 meeting.
We encourage discussion and dissent, especially from our elected officials. We applaud Primeau for challenging council as a lot of ratepayers aren’t happy, a fact underlined by a separate delegation at last week’s county meeting decrying the decision.
Remember, the majority of taxpayers did vote to sell the hill.
That said, in a democracy council has the final say.
And if you don’t like that what they did, you’ll get your chance to respond in three years time when we all head to the polls for the next municipal election.
