To the Sproat Lake Community:
It is indeed unfortunate that I feel compelled to do this in response to the various posts on local Facebook pages by Board Director Tara Oscarson and the group she claims to represent.
As many of you know, the Sproat Lake Community Association is a hard working group of volunteers who individually and as a group spend many hours each month advancing the interests of the Sproat Lake community. Our mandate includes maintaining and operating the Community Hall and fostering the growth of community spirit by providing social, recreational and athletic facilities for the enjoyment of community members. We also work to promote the long-term health and protection of Sproat Lake and its watershed ecosystem through collaborative stewardship efforts. This includes annual water testing for members, seminars on invasive species and liaising with other community groups.
By way of background, the Community Hall was built in 1953 and was an active site of community events for decades before eventually falling into disuse and decay in the 1990’s. Thanks to a group of volunteers led by several prominent community members, the Hall was revived through a referendum in 2005 that saw some lake properties assessed an annual levy of about $12 on their taxes. This generated a fund of $12,000 that was returned by the ACRD to the SLCA annually as a grant-in-aid. At that time, the $12,000 was more than sufficient to allow for annual operating expenses, repairs and tucking away some money for a future contingency fund. Unfortunately those costs have changed dramatically over the years but the annual grant has not. This is due to the fact that only a limited number of properties in Area D, which the Hall services, are assessed the annual levy. The grant now is not sufficient to cover our annual insurance and operating costs and has to be subsidized from other sources.
Through the hard work and many hours spent by the volunteer Board members, we have been very fortunate in past years to secure several grants from a variety of agencies that have allowed us to continue operations and pursue improvements to the Hall. Most notably we have developed some of the finest pickleball courts around and have new bar and kitchen facilities. Thanks also to a very active pickleball community we now have that source of revenue to maintain our basic commitments to the community. The availability of grants has, however, largely disappeared as government agencies also find themselves struggling financially.
As a result your Board has had to become more creative and seize on opportunities as they arise. One such opportunity was the departure of our much beloved Mars water bombers. This resulted in the Bomber Farewell Event held at the Hall and the Coulson Bomber Base in 2024. We had nine of our eleven Board members work extremely hard for over four months to plan and oversee what turned out to be an extraordinary and well-attended event, raising a net profit of over $30,000 for the benefit of our association and community.
When planning for the event first started, the Board approved interim funding for the initial expenses in the sum of $2000. It was obvious that, as things evolved, the many expenses could not be practically dealt with by having each approved by the Board and our Treasurer issuing cheques to suppliers. Fortunately our volunteers stepped up often using their own credit cards to cover these. What was initially envisioned as a local community celebration quickly changed into something much larger, with interest from groups and individuals throughout the valley and beyond. The planning committee had to adapt quickly and make decisions as issues arose as the Board does not normally meet during the summer. This included recognizing that the scope of the event had changed dramatically and adapting the necessary expenditures to ensure its success. Eight Board members were involved throughout and in attendance at the event to oversee all financial aspects.
Ultimately the event was a huge success, with over 2000 people attending, thanks to the hard work of over 80 volunteers and the support of local businesses. Particular thanks to Coulson Aviation and their generous donation of a Bomber VIP experience that we were able to raffle off and generate additional revenue. The total net profit, including the raffle, 50/50 draw, merchandise sales and concession was $30,457.58.
It was an amazing success and exceeded our wildest dreams. It allowed the Board to complete some ongoing projects and further enhance our facilities for the benefit of the community. What was a very positive experience soon turned negative however, as Ms. Oscarson pursued her agenda. She claimed to represent a group of many community members who had petitioned her for details and copies of each and every receipt for expenses incurred at the event. This was not practical or initially possible as some expenses continued to trickle in and merchandise sales continued for months afterward. Eventually, our Treasurer, who is a professional accountant, was able to accurately tally the expenses and produce a very detailed spreadsheet. This was made available at our regular Board meeting and is available to any member of our community who wants it. It is now on our website along with other financial statements. It can be found on the minutes page. It is notable that not one of the other ten Board members had ever received a request for any details of the event expenses or has even been approached by a member of the community to discuss them.
At virtually every Board meeting since October 2024 Ms. Oscarson has raised the expenses as an issue. She has been afforded the opportunity on more than one occasion to sit down with our Treasurer and go over all of the details. The Board has voted repeatedly to put the matter to rest and move on with community business to no avail. The ongoing behaviour is negatively affecting the Board’s ability to function and has become toxic as the integrity of Board members is seemingly questioned.
The recent posts, on at least three Facebook pages, have again called into question the integrity and honesty of our hardworking volunteer Board members, which is not acceptable to me. It has resulted in more than half of our Board refusing to attend meetings until the matter is resolved.
Again, I regret the necessity of posting this information; however I feel it is important that the community have the facts.
Sincerely,
David Brooks, SLCA President.
