It’s proving to be a hand-to-mouth existence for St. Thomas Cemetery Company after it came up $9,000 short in funding from the city this year.
The board of directors had originally requested a $59,000 operating grant but on Monday received $20,000, to go with an initial instalment of $30,000 in April.
This money is applied to the board’s almost $200,000 operating budget.
The municipality began funding the company in the mid-1980s to avoid a takeover.
Council voted 7-1 — with Coun. Mark Tinlin in opposition — to support the cemetery board through reduced levels of funding over time. Council could also consider advancing funds for minor capital replacements and expansion in services if other financial resources are not available at the time.
What remains up in the air is how this yearly amount would be determined. Continue reading
Tag Archives: John Laverty
It could take three years to get Ascent ‘back on stream’ – acting CEO John Laverty
While the utility is turning the corner after racking up a substantial operating loss in 2014, the acting CEO at Ascent advises it could take up to three years “to get back on stream.”
With the departure Sept. 30 of former CEO Ron Osborne, board chairman John Laverty takes over the helm at the former St. Thomas Energy Holdings Inc., on a temporary basis. It will be Laverty’s responsibility to guide the process that will result in the hiring of an individual tasked with hauling the utility out of the financial quagmire in which it finds itself to the tune of $14 million in losses and money owing the city last year.
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Over-extended reach ultimately hobbled Ascent
With the departure Wednesday of former Ascent CEO Ron Osborne, board chairman John Laverty takes over the helm on a temporary basis. It will be his responsibility to guide the process that will result in the hiring of an individual tasked with winching the utility out of the financial quagmire in which it finds itself to the tune of $14 million in losses and money owing to the city last year.
Not to mention its long-term debt of what, another $6 million or so?
We caught up with John this week and what many may not realize is the St. Thomas resident was a former public utilities commissioner who has been “kicking around the utility industry on the governance side since 1991.”
He advised the process of hiring a new CEO started almost immediately.
“We decide as a board whether we’re going to use a headhunter or not.” Continue reading
