Concerns over inheritance use by town

My name is Dave Paradee, one of Bill Ferguson’s closest friends. We had coffee together at the Rex for more than 20 years. I was able to assist him with some of his wishes prior to his passing.

Bill was a simple man with a big heart. It was wonderful that he left his estate of $2.4 million to the Town of Taber for the benefit of the local community, both rural and in town.

The concern that I have is allocating the majority of the funds for infrastructure, i.e. the fire hall. Bill wanted something that would benefit the whole community, such as a sports or arts facility. Or perhaps improving the sound system in the arena and community centre. There are many ideas out there.

I think town council was remiss in not asking the community for their input on the best use of this gift. Then they could have made their decision based on those community suggestions. I doubt there would have been many requests for a fire hall.

There is still time to do this. What’s the rush?

DAVE PARADEE