It's full steam ahead for the Fort George Park train after council approved - by a margin of one vote - to cover start-up costs for this year.
The 99-year-old, small-gauge steam train has been a part of summer at Fort George Park since the 1970s. However, in 2007 a leaky boiler and new regulations took the train off the tracks.
On Monday night council narrowly approved $12,260 to cover start-up costs to get the train operational. The city owns the train and half-mile track in the park, but will contract The Exploration Place and Fort George Railway Society to operate it for the next five years.
"This train is an important park of Fort George Park, and I think it's important to get it... back on the rails," Coun. Brian Skakun said.
However, council was divided on the issue. Councillors Dave Wilbur, Cameron Stolz, Shari Green and Don Bassermann opposed spending nearly all of the $15,000 left in council's contingency fund.
"I'm going to be the Grinch. I'm not going to support $12,260 in adition to the $5,000 we have alreadly allocated [in the budget]," Bassermann said. "The [council] contingency was small to start with and we've got an awful lot of year left."
During the budget process council struggled to find small amounts for many equally worthy causes, he added.
Coun. Shari Green said she'd like to see the start-up costs come from other sources, such as the regional district, Tourism Prince George or corporate sponsors. City recreation manager Brad Beckett said the city and The Exploration Place have looked for other souces of funding, but none are available this year.
"One of the biggest challenges is we need to train new operators, because we only have one operator in town. We drastifcally need to increase that," Beckett said. "We may get sponsorships, but it won't happen in time to cover our start-up costs."
The Exploration Place CEO Tracy Calogheros said the train offers a unique attraction for train enthusiasts.
