Closed-door discussions on the city’s planned takeover of St. Andrews on the Square became very public at city council today.
Secretary-treasurer of the Kamloops Heritage Society Bernice Mitchell voiced frustration to council during public submissions over the building on Seymour Street, after the details of the city’s review of service agreements were made public.
“Everything is up in the air. Since we asked for help, beginning in around 2012, we’ve been micromanaged by the person that we answer to at the city, we’ve had to jump through hoops… This could’ve been handled a lot better if you had started sooner and engaged in serious, open dialogue. And that has not really happened.”
The city has 38 service agreements this year and will be renewing all but two next year, with the society and with Kamloops Crime Stoppers. It evaluated its service agreements based on cost efficiency of its contracts, on contributions to livability and on grant funding is used in those agreements.
The city says it has provided $10,400 in grants to the Kamloops Heritage Society this year, but Mitchell claims no grants have been received since 2017.
“We haven’t seen it, and I don’t imagine we will since you cancelled our lease,” Mitchell says.
“We’re very disappointed in (staff’s) attitude and their actions, and the way that you do not listen and react in an open and honest dialogue. We’ve tried to have an open and honest dialogue.”
The city owns the building and will take over management on March 1, saying the building will be in line for expensive upgrades in the “near future,” to the building’s HVAC system, paint, roofing and stained glass windows.
Council says taxpayers will be better served from the city managing the building, and says it will be preserved as a heritage asset.
It also says it has offered the society’s only employee to stay on for $20 per hour to work as an on-site liaison, however Mitchell says that would be an on-call position 24-7, which she says the employee would not be interested in doing.
Kamloops mayor Ken Christian thanked Mitchell and the society for their service – having run the building since 1998 – and he offered the society to negotiate the transition in management of the building.
