A Tale of Two Emails - holiday lights and dog park

The following are two emails sent this week.  I sent the first to CAO Rob Frost and the second is his reply:  

Hi Rob

People are unwilling to ask town office questions. Instead  they direct them to me.

As the mayor states, we need the facts.

I will post my questions and your answers. 

1. Christmas Lights 

Did the town purchase the lights in Halifax?

Did the town send one or more employees to Halifax to get the lights?

Were the lights out of stock and the town had to make a return trip?

How much did the lights and the employee(s) cost?

The town talks about buying local. Why didn't the town buy lights from our Home Hardware?

2. Dog Park

What is the cost of the dog park - materials and labour?

Thanks!

-Heather

Hi Heather, 

Please let anyone know that we welcome all input from citizens. 

As with anything that the Town purchases we always try to buy local. 

But like any citizen buying something, this isn't always possible and we do need to leave town to buy things at times. 

Any time staff has to leave town we also try to make that as efficient as possible and try to make a trip count. 

We may not be perfect, but we are certainly operating very efficiently as shown my our ability to operate with less money and less staff than the town has had in ten years. 

The lights were within the approved budget line. 

As far as the Dog Park goes, being on HMCC property this is a project of HMCC, so it is best to speak with Mrs. McQueen, or Ron Such regarding finances. 

I would like to congratulate HMCC on taking underutilized land and making it an additional asset to the HMCC and the Town. 

Thanks Heather, 

Rob

Rob Frost