OLDS — Town council has determined how it will pay for purchase of seven sculptures known as the Bergen Rocks, located along Highway 27 in the community.
Council made that decision during its May 24 meeting. Councillors Dan Daley and Darren Wilson voted against the motion.
A total of 10 sculptures were set up along a walking path in the Highway 27 median a few years ago as the Town of Olds looked for a way to draw people to the community.
The municipality previously bought three of them. Council made the controversial decision to buy the remaining seven sculptures during its May 9 meeting.
During the May 24 meeting, town finance director and interim chief administrative officer Sheena Linderman said purchase of the remaining seven, costing $94,500, would be paid for out of the town’s ATCO franchise fee reserve, which is dedicated to arts and culture.
Linderman noted that at the time, that reserve was sitting at $340,046.
The purchase, considered to be a capital project, brought the Town of Olds' total 2022 capital budget to $6,783,462.
The sculptures were obtained several years ago via a sculpture placement agreement with Bergen Rocks curator Morton Burke.
The sculptures had been created by several international artists during symposiums.
During the May 24 meeting, Coun. Wanda Blatz and mayor Judy Dahl said since news of council’s decision to purchase the remaining sculptures had come out, the town had received a few letters pro and con.
They expressed hope those letters will be included in a future council agenda package, as they arrived too late for the May 24 meeting.
“Those comments, negative and positive, I think should be included for the general public to review,” Blatz said.
Coun. Darren Wilson asked what the plan is regarding the pathway, public engagement on art and a tourism strategy going forward.
However, Mayor Dahl ruled that was not a topic to be dealt with at that time, because discussion was focused specifically on what reserve the purchase of the sculptures would come from.
Coun. Heather Ryan asked why the purchase of the sculptures was considered a capital expense.
"Any arts and culture are considered capital. It doesn’t matter the value, as art is subjective in its value. Anything that is considered arts and culture is capital,” Linderman said.
