Another evening has been scheduled for the popular “Paint and Sip” event hosted by local artist Cathie Flahr. This time around, guests can look forward to painting beautiful sunflowers over a white picket fence—perfect for spring.
The event will again take place at the Cariboo Lodge on Saturday, April 21, and will start at 2 p.m., wrapping up around 5 p.m. For those who have not had a chance to attend, now is the perfect time to register.
Paint and Sip is a step-by-step, easy to follow painting session that requires no prior experience. All you need to enjoy it is the desire to have fun, and experiment with beautiful and exciting colours. Flahr walks painters through one step at a time, providing short demos for attendees to copy.
Guests are free to put in their own personal touch, and all supplies for the event are included in the $30 registration fee. To sign up, contact Sophi at (778) 385-2025. There are a maximum of 15 participants per session.
“Era of Megafires”
“Era of Megafires” is a multi-media learning experience that has been presented in many communities throughout the province, and will now be presented to local residents on Tuesday, April 24 at 7 p.m. at the Memorial Hall in Clinton. The event will provide an opportunity to learn more about the causes of wildfires like those our province experienced last year, while also offering insight into future solutions for events such as these.
“Era of Megafires” presenter Paul Hessburg, Ph.D., is a research ecologist with the Pacific Northwest Research Station, U.S. Forest Service, who has been studying historical and modern era forests for more than thirty years. Hessburg’s work documents large changes in forest conditions, and helps to reveal how those changes, coupled with climate change, have created the perfect environment for severe wildfires.
Spring Fling dance
Old School’s Bar and Grill will host a “Spring Fling” in Clinton on Saturday, April 28 from 7:30 to 11 p.m. featuring old and new rock ’n roll classics by the band Class Mates. There is a $5 cover charge, with the event featuring spot dances and door prizes. There will be plenty of ’50s and ’60s tunes, so be sure to make it out for a great evening of dancing and socializing.
Budget meeting
On Thursday, April 12, a public input meeting was held to read through the Village of Clinton’s Five Year Financial Plan (preliminary budget) for 2018–2022.
At the meeting’s start, only seven locals were in attendance, myself and council members excluded. To present the budget, Clinton’s CAO Monika Schittek was joined by the new CFO, Michael Liggins, who did an exceptional job of answering the questions and concerns of those in attendance. Liggins was well-received by the gallery, and admitted that this was his “first kick at a municipal budget”.
He spent a fair amount of time explaining the creation of the budget and walking those in attendance through the Five Year Plan, noting that the budget-making process helps to offer a deeper understanding of the Village and how it works. Creating a budget, according to Liggins, is “a matter of understanding the organization [the Village of Clinton] and its processes”.
Liggins focused his presentation around the concept of amortization and its significance in creating this year’s budget, as well as the overall Financial Plan. He stressed a conservative approach to budgeting, accounting for amortization in the process. Amortization, in Liggins’s words, refers to “the time-based allocation of the cost of purchasing something”.
The concept comes into play as municipal governments take into account the depreciation of their assets and investments. For example, water lines that may have been installed in the 1950s present a significant cost to a municipality as they begin to degrade, their value to the municipality depreciating over time and consequently accumulating greater costs for the organization.
Following Liggins’s presentation of the Five Year Plan, questions were taken from the gallery. One resident inquired about the impact of Clinton’s Community Forest on the budget, to which Liggins responded that it has not yet provided any financials to the Village. “We’ve put forward the best info we have at this point.”
Until those financials have been provided, the budget will not reflect any impact from the Community Forest. Schittek pointed out that the Village acts as shareholders of the Community Forest, but the two do exist as separate organizations.
During discussion, council also reiterated their intentions to uphold a strong, lasting relationship with the South Cariboo Historical Museum Society.
Property taxes form the largest proportion of revenue for the Village in 2018, while grants from the government form the second-largest proportion of revenue this year. In 2018, the Village will complete the water main project, with the remaining balance received from the Clean Water and Wastewater grant funding received in 2017. In 2018, the Village will not be utilizing surplus or reserve funds. The distribution of property taxes among property classes in the Village will be maintained similarly to previous years, as the Village will maintain the municipal tax rates implemented in 2016.
At the next meeting of council, on Wednesday, April 25, the Village will receive their audit, which members of the public are welcome to listen in on. This is another great opportunity to learn more about the Village and its budget-making process, as well as the inner workings of our elected council. At the April 25 council meeting, there will be a second reading of the second draft of the budget, with the addition of the Woodlot Budget and audited financial statements.
At the May 9 council meeting, a third draft of the budget will be provided, with school and police tax updates, as well as the industrial tax update.
The municipality must have a financial plan adopted annually, by bylaw, before the annual property tax bylaw is adopted. On Friday, May 11, there will be a special council meeting to reconsider and finally adopt the budget, with a third and final reading of the Tax Rate Bylaw.
The Five Year Financial Plan (2018–2022) summarizes the financial direction of the Village of Clinton—including detailed costs and revenues—and can be reviewed by members of the public at the Village office.