Trail City Council and Communities in Bloom continue to navigate a new working relationship.
Council approved the organization’s $147-thousand budget for this year in a split vote at an earlier meeting while expressing discomfort with the practice of paying the group upon getting receipts throughout the year.
Keith Smythe and Rachael Brown of Communities in Bloom, presented a framework budget for this year to council and answered questions about salaries, payment of contractors and other purchases.
After the presentation, City Manager Colin McClure said the group needs to decide between becoming a society that seeks funding from all levels of government that requires detailed structure and accounting practices, or evolving into a city activity like Silver City Days.
Smythe said becoming society is a non starter.
“I would say to a person, of the active people in Communities in Bloom, volunteers, they do not want to go the society route,” he told council,
Smythe stated the group has worked on restructuring plans.
“In our report that we have, we have gone and developed two models of what we think might be the way to go in the future, but the society one is a sensitive one” he stated, adding that one plan is similar to Silver City Days with a tweak.
“The difference is with these 120 volunteers, meeting with that many people all the time, you have to have a way that you have a working group, a working group, and then you attach the volunteers to the working group,” Smythe explained.
McClure said the bottom line is continuing the work of the group in beautifying the city and Smythe agreed.
“We’re willing to sit down at anytime and be helpful here, we don’t want to lose this either,” Smythe commented.
He said Communities in Bloom will continue to work on its restructuring plan and wants to review it with city Public Works staff when it’s ready.
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