Bowen Island Undercurrent, June 14, 2013

Page 1

FRIDAY JUNE 14, 2013 VOL. 39, NO. 3

75¢

including GST

Watch for more online at: WWW.BOWENISLANDUNDERCURRENT.COM

Goldie Gallery

New venue helps Artisan Square to live up to its name

Book launch

Anthology showcases literary talents of island writers

Salute to grads

Find out how Bowen graduates feel about where they come from

Funding decisions Council awards community grants and spring grants in aid SUSANNE MARTIN EDITOR

T

his year, the Bowen Island Municipality (BIM) received five applications for community grants and nine applications for grants in aid, totalling $146,206. Council had approved a $134,568 budget for this granting cycle and BIM’s interim manager of finance Kristen Watson explained at the Monday, June 10, council meeting that $7,000 of the budget is traditionally set aside for the fall grants in aid and the sum of $11,114, the municipality’s contribution toward the community school coordinator position, also comes out of the total amount. Watson said that under the community charter, all applicants were eligible to receive funding but the grant requests exceeded the available budget by $29,752. She also explained that a BIM Community Grants Advisory Committee has been established with the aim to develop a value system that will make reviewing the applications easier and straight forward. “The committee is starting from the ground up and will bring a new recommended policy forward,” Watson said. “The next step will be a review of the application process and to come up with nice simple application packages.” She added that the committee is not yet in a position to provide advice to council on the current grant applications but is expected to weigh in on the permissive tax exemption and grants in aid requests in the fall. For this round of applications, Watson suggested that council consider awarding the same amounts as last year for community grants. “Spring grants in aid awards will require some grant requests to be reduced or possibly denied as the available fund is oversubscribed,” she added. continued, PAGE 3

New records were set at the 25th annual Martin Marine Round Bowen Race. The first of the participating boats to cross the finish line was the refitted Il Moro that had circumnavigated the island in 2:18. More on page 6. Sea Snaps photo

Annex envisioned for library land SUSANNE MARTIN EDITOR

B

owen Island’s library has outgrown its available space. The desire for the library to be part of a community centre had repeatedly been expressed but head librarian Tina Nielsen explained at the Monday, June 10, council meeting that this is a long-term goal and a solution needs to be found for the near future. “You know from our space need assessment that we need a bigger facility,” Nielsen addressed members of council. “And I’m asking you to authorize municipal staff to work with the library to look at what is com-

monly referred to as the library land.” Nielsen explained that the library’s immediate need is for multi-function space that can accommodate quiet study and increased programming that the library is and would like to be offering. Examples are homework help, reading buddies, story time, children’s reading clubs, author visits, book clubs and tech tutoring. The library currently has no meeting room, program space or dedicated quiet study space. “We try to hold programming in alternative location,” Nielsen said. “At the library, we can accommodate 10 adults. For children’s programming, everyone has to sit on the floor.”

She explained that the library’s strategic goal is to move away from being a ware house for books and provide more programming. “We like the idea of a learning commons but we don’t have the space to do that,” Nielsen said. “[Space limitations] prevent us from moving toward our strategic goal.” The library board has looked at various options on how to find a temporary solution and decided to explore an expansion to the north by way of building an annex, Nielsen said, adding that the unit could be similar to the Cup Cutter at the Bowen Island Golf Club. continued, PAGE 2

Congratulations Graduatingclass classofof2013! 2012! Graduating

604-947-2022 | www.firstcu.ca


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.