Athabasca County passed a motion requesting a joint meeting with the Town of Athabasca – with all of council present – to discuss the pool project before the design committee meets with the architects on June 13.
The motion stems from a May 17 letter from town council, rejecting the county’s proposal to up its matching contribution to the pool project from $5 million to $7.25 million.
Coun. Christi Bilsky opposed the motion; Coun. Jack Dowhaluk was not at the meeting.
The town letter stated they believed it was too early to commit to any funding arrangement, before the project has been tendered and operating and capital costs are calculated.
But county administration said those numbers have already been drawn out, and tenders cannot be opened if the pool has no financial backing.
“We’re taking these estimates from our architects,” explained county manager Ryan Maier. “That’s what we’re paying them for. We have to assume it’s accurate.”
Based on concept drawings from Group2 Architecture Interior Design, the pool committee chose the cheaper of two options that came with a $14.5-million price tag; $10 million in funding had been earmarked as coming from the town and county. According to a report in the county’s agenda package written by Maier, an additional $650,000 has come from fundraisers and grants.
Coun. Kevin Haines said the project already has hard numbers, and since the project has to move forward, increasing the matching contribution would be the first step.
The figures for the pool design came out in the last few months, but the process started several years ago as a joint partnership between the town and county.
Coun. Warren Griffin, member of the pool design committee, said he is frustrated by the outcome and that $500,000 has already been spent on architects for the project.
“This seems like we’re in a partnership of one,” he said. “Why go through this expense and waste it? It wasn’t easy going to $7.25 million. If you’re a partner, you have to put on your big-boy pants.”
Griffin added that he understood if town council shelved the project, but if it was because they could not afford the price tag, they should just say it and stop wasting taxpayer money.
One of the newest expenses, he noted, is an upcoming meeting with a water technologist who is flying in from the United States.
Council unanimously passed a second motion at the May 26 meeting to postpone the meeting with the consultant.
A second motion was passed requesting all members of town and county council meet as soon as possible for an emergency meeting, to discuss where the project is going and other options on the table, like fundraising to cover the shortfall.
Old pool
The other issue on the table was the condition of the old pool, built in 1980. The Athabasca Multiplex Society replaced the pool’s 13-year-old hot water tank earlier this month, because it had been leaking and spraying water.
The replacement hot water tank cost $7,600, which was taken out of the Multiplex operating budget.
“If we shut it down, we can’t have hot showers,” Griffin said. “It’s costing us more and more.”
Coun. Denis Willcott said the pool’s operating costs could be put toward the new facility rather than going into the old.
“When are we going to stop putting money into this pool?” he said.
