While City council should be lauded for the work it has done in reigning in costs on municipal operations, there is still some question of at what cost did it come.
When council voted down a motion that found money in its shrinking budget to keep the Sustainability Commission (SC) afloat it sent a ripple through the community.
Judging by the vocal and articulate group that showed up in council chambers Monday night, the effect will be a negative one.
The SC was a loved and cherished part of the community in its short life, and had begun the process of building aspects of the community that were expected to have deep and lasting effects.
Effects that many in the community were proud of.
Several people spoke to council at length Monday night about the core values the commission was shaping, and how there was no plan in place to ensure those values were nurtured and enhanced when the SC's vision moved in-house to City Hall.
The ripples of that decision will undoubtedly be felt, and measured, as time goes by. Hopefully council will revisit the issue of funding a Sustainability Commission if those ripples grow too large in the future.