A staff report to be considered by council in January will shed some light on how the city will deal with the drama at the Hyack Festival Association.
In response to the internal brouhaha with the association, city council took actions that included asking the registrar of B.C. Societies to investigate the conduct of the Hyack Festival Association, requesting all financial records and procedures from the organization so it can conduct an independent audit, administering this year’s Santa Claus Parade and suspending any future funding to the association until these governance matters are resolved to the satisfaction of the city.
“There were about four things the city asked for. It’s my understanding what will happen is in the new year we are going to get a response on all of those things,” said acting mayor Jonathan Cote. “Those are the things that the city will be using to make whatever decision we have to make in the new year.”
Cote said council’s decision would depend on the status of the organization, which has been dealing with internal troubles since the summer.
“Early in the new year we are going to start to get some answers back regarding a lot of the questions council was asking from the organization,” he said. “A lot will be as to what is the status of the organization. I am hopeful and confident that the next AGM will sort out a lot of the issues with Hyack, and we will know who we are dealing with after that point in time officially from the Hyack board.”
The Hyack Festival Association is set to hold its annual general meeting on Jan. 13, 2014.
“At that point the city is going to be in a position where we get all the different information and see to what level are we able to continue to partner with the Hyack organization and what is the impact of everything that happened last year.”
Jan Gibson, the city’s acting director of legislative services, said the city has received a reply from the registrar of societies, but because the matter is still before council so the letter hasn’t been made public.
“At this stage I don’t know what has been completed,” Cote said about the actions sought by council. “In many respects it was a directive to staff to start to initiate these processes. … I certainly am expecting information back on that in the new year.”
The City of New Westminster typically provides the Hyack Festival Association with more than $150,000 in funding and in-kind services for festivals and events it coordinates for the city, including the annual Hyack festival and parade and the Santa Claus parade.
