Well here is your chance to make your comments about the weekend, good bad or indifferent. Weather it be the parade, show and shine, carnival, Thunder in the Valley, etc.
What did you think, is the weekend worth the $100,000 of taxpayers money that goes in to it?
Should the weekend continue in its present form, should the municipality be taking over the entire weekend as suggested by our local leaders or just leaving it alone.
Looking forward to any and all comments, now's your chance to speak.
23 comments:
The Sole Survivor Race on the Friday night is a great family event.
Thanks to the organizers and volunteers for a great race.
as i stated in your previous column does the community see any spinoff or economic benefit to justify the reported $100,000 that is spent on the weekend events and security. I personally think that if it were scaled back a bit it would still be a good thing but more and more locals seem to have had enough with it.
I spoke with a lot of locals this past week, that were "getting out of town" for the weekend. That having been said, our whole family came here,from out of town, with our grandchildren, to enjoy the parade, collect their candy, and get air brushed tattoos. The fireworks were absolutely wonderful,they always are. Especially so, after the horrible weather we endured before the show. Somehow though, one has to question why we all have to tolerate that horrible campground along the railway tracks. Nothing says "hick town" more than that. There are so many people coming here from so many places, that we should be sending a far better message of what a nice town this could be, particularly during an event like this.
I live in Blairmore and the crowds on Saturday overnight are a nuisance. If, for instance, the town didn't spend tax dollars for porta-potties there would be even more public urination. Please keep the port-potties! Its a free country and you can't tell folks to stay away; if you want to reduce the crowd numbers, you have to decide to cancel the biggest weekend draw: fireworks. Folks don't travel from Claresholm just to buy mini-donuts. And we will still need public toilets and other expenditures.
The visitors pump a lot of money into the pockets of our merchants and that is good for the community. If we have about 6,000 residents and the cost to the town is $100,000, then the cost per resident for the weekend festival is $16.00 each out of the property taxes. How much does each visitor spend locally?
For the one night of aggravation that the festival brings to Blairmore residents, it also brings a good party for small personal cost. There is a benefit to local merchants and some exposure for the area ... I think it is worth it.
I think it is a small price to pay to draw in that many people.We do however need to figure out away to get a few of these people to buy a home here or start a business here.We do not promote ourselves on this very busy weekend as a great place to live or work or start a business.Why do the municapality and the chamber not have booths set up promoting this area as a great place to do business.Why are the golf course and the ski hill letting this opportunity to promote themselves pass by.We draw so many people and have an opportunity to get to the bigger picture and all we focus on is the short term benefit for the local merchants.It is all about planting a seed, and then watching it grow.
Well here is the other side. I live three blocks from ISS I am really tired of it, six people peed in my yard (that's just what I witnessed before I went to bed at 4am).
Let's assume for a moment that the town, its merchants, developers realtors etc, etc receive great benefit from this weekend. We the individual taxpayers receive no financial gain from it unless we happen to own or work for one of the above.
An employee at the town told me that the cost of a business license here is $75 which has not changed in twenty years and there are roughly 500 businesses. So I propose the following lets increase the cost of a business license to $200 which will bring in an additional $60,000.
Then lets give everybody that lives within five blocks of the ISS a 20% discount on their taxes.
This way even though most of us around the field do not enjoy this weekend, we like all the merchants, developers, realtors gas stations, hotels, restaurants and now taxpayers get to share in the fruits of this weekend.
This weeks poll in the Herald here is everybodys chance to vote on this issue.
http://www.passherald.ca/
Stan
A group that never get recognition but always steps up on these types of events. The Blairmore Lions club hell of a job on the pancake breakfast again.
Thanks
Cliff
Raising business taxes does not help promote business.Paying less property tax is never going to happen.That would be like me saying you should pay more because you live close to the ski hill or the school.I am sorry that it is a tough 8 hours but lets be realistic as to what you think you should be compensated.
Here is an idea seeing that we are "one" community sharing in both the good and the bad.
Lets rotate the fireworks! next year we can do it on the MDM field. The following year we could use the Horace Allen field.
Yes there will be logistical problems, there always will be when you put 30,000 people in a town designed for 3000.
Then in two years we will see how many people have the attitude that us folks in Blairmore should suck it up for 8 hours.
Frank
As I’ve said before, I’m not against the Thunder In The Valley fireworks display. However, there are some real problems that have to be dealt with. Put an end to the camping along the train tracks and anywhere else on municipality property (i.e: cemetery hill, boulevards, back alleys ... etc) and a lot of the current problems will be solved.
As far as the money that comes into the Pass during this weekend, not as many business’ benefit, as some might believe. Top of the list are the liquor stores, followed by Blairmore restaurants, gas stations and motels (accommodation). Walk-in traffic increases in other retail stores, but people are frequently “only looking”. I spoke with one person employed at a store along Blairmore’s main street and they did not seem to think there was a lot of extra business. Instead, they are on the constant lookout for shoplifters.
I like Frank’s suggestion about rotating the location of the fireworks each year. I suspect the attitude of a lot of Thunder In The Valley supporters would change real fast. Great event, but NIMBY (Not In My Backyard).
Our mayor has promised change for next year. A lot of residents in Blairmore are looking forward to hearing what these changes will be.
The Pass is all about quads, dirt bikes, monster mud-bogging pickups, mining, logging, oil&gas, boozing, pro wrestling, hot-rods, Harleys, firetrucks and fireworks.
Perhaps I exaggerate, but some RR Days visitors might get that message.
We spend a lot on this and other events and programs in the belief that they somehow "promote" the Pass. A lot of this is "under the table" in the form of fee waivers and free use of municipal facilities and services, which are not accounted for in our financials.
We should:
-combine all this spending, including the "under the table" stuff, into a Promotion Fund.
-figure out what message are we trying to send and identify the target audience.
-see if they are getting the message. Not just by the informal "How do you like the Pass?" survey, with its politely positive replies.
I wonder if Sinster 7 got any freebies for there event?
Several comments:
There are numerous great events associated with the Rum Runner Days weekend.
The $100,000 thats a lot of money and without an increased tax base it's going to be more difficult to sustain.
I know it's hard to believe with all the hiring the municipality did this year and the amount of advertising you see in the papers this town has no money.
Watch your taxes next year.
For the people that live in the area of the ISS field I really feel for those people I don't know if it's possible but it would be interesting to see what the response of residents would be if it was moved around the community.
Camping is going to be a never ending issue, those are the people that probably spend the most money here. It's certainly not the people that show up four hours before the event and then in the line up to leave three minutes after the fireworks are over.
Sinster 7 I have no idea what support they got from the municipality this year. During my time on council we gave them non-financial support such as the use of the Albert Stella, puting up of barricades etc.
Sinster 7 is the type of event that I supported from day one. It's a good thing for the community brings in a lot of people. People who spend a lot of money I spoke to a couple of bussinesses that said they made has much money that weekend as they did on the Rum Runner Day weekend.
From what I have heard there were zero problems that weekend, not one story around town of some idiot pissing in a yard.
Next year council plans to run the weekend more has a bussiness I look forward to that. There are not too many examples out there of government at any level suceeding in business. Just remember if things go bad who pays?
I heard they were shutting down the Calgary Stampede as a few people complained that it is just to close to where they lived.City council has decided that it will be in Okotoks next year and Airdrie the following just so those people can see what we all have to live through.
Here is the difference 12:49 Calgarys population over One million people, 100,000 people for stampede big deal thats one tenth of their population. Blairmore 2500people 30000 for the Fireworks thats 12x. How would Calgary handle it if 12 million people showed up for stampede? Do you not think that would be a problem?
Frank
Hi Dean-
Andrew Fairhurst here with Sinister 7. I appreciate you standing behind events like ours.
To clarify one thing we do not receive ANY financial support from the town and pay rental fees for the use of ASME. While I certainly appreciate the support of our fantastic volunteers as well as our town members and council standing behind the event we are a business and cover our costs accordingly.
I think Rum Runners Days are a great way to show case the community. It is Thunder in the Valley that is the problem! The Sole Survivor, parade and business initiatives that are put in place do this community proud over the weekend. It is the fireworks at night along with the party animal mentality and logistical headache that they create that cause all of the problems and give this weekend a bad name. People don't come for the fireworks, they come because once a year they are given free license to run around the streets and not be accountable for their actions.
Frank good comments about 12 million people coming to Calgary. This event is way beyond the abilities of a small little town in the South West Rockies to handle.
Isn't there a way to limit the size of the crowd?
If business is so excited about this weekend let their Chamber of Commerce cover the costs
Can anyone name me a community of 5000 people that spends $100,000 on a weekend that provides a pot of gold for its business community? Those that benefit should pay.
The expense of the porta potties, extra policing etc are all due to Thunder in The Valley - not Rum Runner's Days. Those expenses should be paid for by the organizers of Thunder in The Valley.
I feel one thing is being over looked. Yes people are coming into the community to spend money, but where are they spending it. From my observations majority of the money spent seems to be on the carnival and food tents there. Generally speaking these places are out of town businesses. Granted there are people who put money into local business but it would be interesting to see what the acutal income for local business is.
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