Athabasca town council has passed the first reading of a bylaw that will allow it to borrow $5 million to put towards a new pool. The reading passed with a 5-2 vote with councillors Tanu Tyszka-Evans and Nichole Adams voicing their opposition to the decision.
The original draft of the bylaw proposed borrowing the money on a 30-year term. However, Mayor Roger Morrill asked to change that.
“Personally, I don’t feel comfortable taking something out for a period of 30 years, and I would hope council might consider, at least with the first reading here, to consider something less than 30 years on this,” Morrill said during council’s regular meeting on June 17.
Councillor Tim Verhaeghe voiced agreement to the change.
If the town were to borrow the full $5 million, the interest rate on a 30-year term would be approximately 3.585 per cent. This would create annual debt and interest payments of around $273,410. Those payments over 30 years would total about $8.2 million. On Morrill’s suggestion, the bylaw was changed to a 20-year term. On that term, the interest rate drops slightly to 3.291 per cent and the total amount to be repaid drops to $6.86 million, but annual payments rise to $343,214.
The 20-year term means the town will pay about $1.3 million less than with the 30-year term.
If major changes are not made to the town’s budget, these additional debt repayment costs could result in a 4- to 6-per-cent increase in mill rate, or a $77–$85 increase per year to the average homeowner.
Tyszka-Evans stated it is too early to be borrowing money for a pool when the true costs are unknown.
“I will not be voting for this because … I think it’s misleading to the public, as we don’t know the costs of a pool,” he said.
Quoting figures of surrounding municipalities that have constructed pools recently, Tyszka-Evans said it is not feasible to build a pool for $10 million.
“I don’t see how we can do a pool for $10 (million),” Tyszka-Evans said.
“This is not the Town of Athabasca swimming pool. This is a cooperative pool involving, (at) the very least, the county of Athabasca. It will also involve our community groups doing fundraising,” Morrill responded.
Verhaeghe explained that he is confident the pool can be constructed within the town’s price range.
“We have had some meetings with different consultants and representatives, and I have no doubt, based on those meetings that we had, and I sit on the pool committee, that a pool can be built for 10 million. It all depends on what we want,” he said.
Councillor Shelly Gurba explained that money will also be saved by constructing the pool along with the new school.
“I think the idea to do it with the school build is also a cost-saving measure because of the fact that you’re joining forces together,” she said.
According to Morrill, the reason for wanting to get the bylaw moving forward is so council can let Athabasca County and the others involved know where they are at, and also allow the public to have a chance to comment on it.
“You think it’s important for communities to give their opinion on whether we should go ahead with this project — why, then, did you vote against a plebiscite?” Tyszka-Evans asked.
At its previous meeting, council voted to proceed with the first reading of the bylaw without holding a plebiscite. That motion passed with a 5-2 vote with Tyszka-Evans and Adams opposed.
“I voted against a plebiscite because of what CAO (Ryan) Maier said. He said it was non-binding and viewed it as a basic waste of our funds. This will give our community now a chance to say, because this will be petitioned,” Morrill responded.
Adams said council should have initiated the communication process earlier.
“I find it disappointing that instead of initiating communication with the public via a plebiscite, that council is going to sit back and wait for the public to force one on them,” she said.
Following the first reading, those wishing to do so have until July 17 to present a petition to council containing 299 signatures. If a petition is completed, a vote will be held in which all town residents can participate, and council will be bound by the decision of that vote.
A group of concerned Athabasca citizens has created a petition; the petition will be available for signing at a July 3 public meeting. Anyone interested in the petition can reach Tyszka-Evans ([email protected], 213-2529) or Adams ([email protected], 780-675-5778) for more information.
