Zachary Friedenberger, a Nakusp Secondary School student, has been awarded the contract to run the Nakusp municipal campground this summer.
Council voted to give Friedenberger, a grade 12 student, the contract after a recommendation by staff.
“Rob (chief financial officer Rob Richards) and I have both spoken to him in fairly good detail and feel he understands all the things needed for the position,” said Linda Tynan, the Village of Nakusp’s chief administrative officer. “He has done quite a lot of research.”
Only two people submitted proposals to run the campground, says a staff report. The other applicant is described as a “traveling RV family” and their proposal “did not include any specific reference to management of the Nakusp campground,” the staff report says. “Staff did not consider this submission further as it had little background information included with it.”
The staff report speaks highly of Friedenberger. Tynan said they spoke with him and his father Richard – who co-signed the contract – to make sure he was ready for the demands of running the campground.
Councillor Ulli Mueller said she was concerned with how Friedenberger would manage the workload of finishing grade 12 with running the campground; the contract starts on May 1 and runs until the end of October.
“I want to be sure the parents are ready to step up to the plate,” she said.
Tynan said the only issue would be grad weekend, which Friedenberger intends to take off.
“We had discussions with the father very specifically that if (Zachary) wants time off or time away, whether or not they were prepared,” said Tynan. “They seemed to have a very good idea of the amount of time that is required.”
The contract will see Friedenberger earn 55 per cent of the revenue generated by the campground. Based on 2013 numbers, that would be a profit of about $29,000.
