Decorating a city for the holidays comes at a cost.
The City of Abbotsford recently renewed its contract with the company that decorates power poles and the 80-foot Christmas tree in the historic downtown.
The city will pay Star Illuminations around $75,000 per year over the next five years to rent, install and remove the decorations. That figure will allow the city to boost the number of poles decorated from 100 to around 145 in the city centre and Clearbrook neighbourhoods. The city is also responsible for storing and installing decorations owned by the Abbotsford Downtown Business Association, including the lights and fixture for the tree.
The contract will also allow for the addition of decorations in the Marshall/McCallum and UDistrict neighbourhoods in 2019.
The cost is in line with past city spending on holiday decorations, which have also been supplied by Star Illuminations. The company was the only one to submit a bid during an open request-for-proposal process.