STRAIGHT TALK
Margaret Barr
The Hespeler Railway Station Association took the fast track to answer readers' questions that I raised in last week's column - questions that some local citizens say were making them reluctant to hop on board the group's efforts to restore the old train station.
Community concerns initially surfaced regarding the association's intended use for the $10,000 Cambridge city council had promised.
Why wasn't the association using the money to kick-start the station's restoration, readers asked. Most folks just couldn't get a handle on why councillors would give 10 grand to a group of volunteers to hire a (gulp) fund-raising consultant.
They also wanted to know how many of the association's more than 240 members were active and how many were merely accommodating citizens who had paid the $5 membership fee but were not necessarily committed to the project or the direction it was taking.
Finally, they asked what the sagging station would be used for and how the community would benefit from its expensive face-lift, if it ever gets done.
Many thought the organization was playing its cards too close to its vest, especially now that it was using public funds. I had to agree. But my initial attempt to find answers from a previous spokesperson was like butting my head against an oncoming train. This week, however, the association offered up a spokesperson with something to say - and faster than a speeding locomotive.
Andrew Bienhaus, HRSA treasurer, said, "The committee understands that asking city council for $10,000 to hire a consultant may be considered unusual. But, of our 240 members, no one stepped forward to volunteer the fund-raising skills that we felt were needed for a project of this magnitude."
To my mind, a preferred alternative would have been to go in search of those elusive volunteers; that's what other groups do every day. Still, Bienhaus's answer was honest and he deserves credit for telling it like it is.
Bienhaus admitted that only 15-40 of HRSA's 240 general members turn out for open meetings, but all are notified and invited to attend.
"Most decisions (such as the one to approach city council for the consultant's fees) are made by the executive committee, but if members aren't satisfied with those decisions, they have the opportunity to come and express their views," he said.
"The train station's ultimate use has not been decided," Bienhaus continued. "We are looking at everything from a family restaurant to a public hall. But before we approach the community for funds, we will have a well-defined use in mind."
Whether or not you like HRSA's answers is up to you. You may still find it off track, as far as volunteer organizations go. But now at least it seems to have adopted the right attitude concerning its responsibility to taxpayers. And that's a darned sight more than I can say for a lot of folks spending our money.
For example, city councillors approved the money for the consultant in the first place, after another city-paid consultant, Ron Soskolne, recommended the city not put any public money into the project.
The Hespeler train station restoration project doesn't deserve to be derailed by any past failure on the part of the association to address community concerns.
Bienhaus and the rest of the board are now on a new track - one to ensure that their message to Cambridge comes through loud and clear.
And I think I hear them saying "all aboard."