Town of Bonnyville council has put the pressure directly on MD of Bonnyville council to do the right thing and ensure the Bonnyville Seniors' Society can purchase a new bus.
Town council last week approved spending $15,000 for the local seniors' club, contingent on MD council matching that contribution.
To their credit, the club has acquired a $35,000 grant from the provincial government to buy a new bus, while also generating $27,000 in profit from hosting the Ålberta senior games last summer.
The cost of a new 26-passenger bus will be roughly $82,000, plus taxes, Seniors' Society president Stella Marcotte told Town councillors last week.
With $62,000 in the bank and town council making the decision to make a $15,000 contribution, the bus can be purchased if MD council reverses a previous decision to reject the request by the seniors' club for its matching donation of $15,000.
Purchasing a new bus would allow seniors' club members to embark on regular day trips to neighbouring communities, attend social and cultural events in large groups and start organizing more tours to various events and communities across Alberta.
Marcotte is hopeful MD council will have a change of heart and can be convinced to alter its previous decision now that Town council has approved its portion of the funding request.
As several members of Town council stated last week, comments made by MD councillors that they had to reject the funding request several weeks ago because the 2011 budget had already been set is simply an excuse.
That it is.
The 2011 draft budget has been approved by MD council, but the final budget is still a long way from being finalized.
Coming up with $15,000 to improve the quality of life of hundreds of local seniors is not an outrageous request and MD councillors should be embarrassed for turning down this request.
MD councillors are absolutely correct when they state they can't fund every funding request that comes before them.
But this is a one-time request for a brand new bus that will last at least a decade and most likely much longer than that.
This bus will greatly benefit dozens and dozens of senior citizens in this community who worked so hard their entire lives to be able to enjoy a good quality of life when they retired from their careers.
The seniors have promised to charge reasonable rates to users of the bus to generate revenue to pay for insurance and maintenance costs for many years to come.
There is no reason whatsoever to suggest Bonnyville seniors would be returning to council any time soon to ask for any more funding for the bus once it's purchased.
There's not a single person in this community who is going to cry foul over spending $15,000 to purchase a vehicle that will benefit so many seniors for years to come.
The bottom line is the only thing preventing this bus from being purchased is support from MD council.
Town councillors quickly realized $15,000 is a mere pittance to help so many good people in this community.
It is time for MD councillors to step up to the plate, do the right thing, change their previous decision and come up with the money.
