Barrhead County council voted unanimously to delay first reading of its $5 million borrowing bylaw during their regular meeting on Tuesday, June 16, after finding out about a petition being circulated by a Barrhead resident in an effort to delay or stop the construction of the aquatic centre.
Originally council had planned to give the bylaw first reading, the first step towards approving the county’s portion of the estimated $13 million construction costs of Barrhead’s new facility.
In December of 2014, the town and county of Barrhead came to an agreement regarding the capital costs of a new facility. According to the agreement, both municipalities would contribute $5 million towards the project. The remaining funds would come from fundraising and other private and government grants.
On May 26, Barrhead council unanimously passed the first reading of their borrowing bylaw.
However, Coun. Darrell Troock said it might be better if the county held off on approving the first reading of their borrowing bylaw, adding that he first became aware of the petition through an article in the June 16 issue of the Barrhead Leader.
In the article, Chuck Hambling said he was concerned the town and its residents wouldn’t be able to afford the aquatic centre, as currently proposed, and that he wanted the town to take a second look at the project and scale it down.
Troock questioned the effect the petition might have on the timing of the county’s borrowing bylaw.
“If we pass first reading today, that means we have to advertise in the local media for two weeks, right. And then we could bring it back for second reading,” he said.
Mark Oberg, Barrhead County Manager, said Troock was correct by saying after first reading the county would have to place a notice in the local newspaper about the passing of the bylaw, but an additional step would be needed.
“Typically what would happen is after first reading, because it is a borrowing bylaw that is petitionable, 15 days after the last advertisement is the limit to the time people can petition,” he said. “Whenever council decides to give it first reading, it is my suggestion that you don’t bring it back for second reading until that time is elapsed to give people the legal time to petition against it.”
For example, if council decided to give first reading on Tuesday, June 16, Oberg said the county would advertise in both June 23 and 30 issues of the Barrhead Leader, before it could start counting the 15 days until they could go to second reading.
“It goes by pretty fast. Basically it takes about a month from the time you pass first reading,” he said, adding that the Town of Barrhead was in the middle of the process now.
Bill Lee, Barrhead Reeve, asked what happens if the town is presented with a petition.
“Don’t we need to match whatever they do for our borrowing bylaw?” Lee asked. “If they have to change their numbers because of the petition, don’t we have to be in unison of what they are doing?”
Oberg said in the agreement the county signed with the town, both municipalities agreed to commit a maximum of $5 million.
“I agree with you that it makes sense that our two bylaws should coincide with each other,” he said, adding that it is his recommendation that council wait until the town’s petition period ends.
“We can’t speculate if it (petition) is going to be successful or not, but in light of this I would recommend that we delay first reading until our first meeting in July,” Oberg said.
Coun. Ron Klienfeld asked what Barrhead town council’s next step would be if the petition was successful.
Oberg said council would have two choices, either defeat the bylaw right away or they could bring it to their residents to vote on in a plebiscite.
“Then they would find out from the voters if it is a go or not,” he said.
Coun. Doug Drodz said he will be curious to see if Hambling’s petition is successful.
“Depending on how it shakes down, we might be going through the same thing ourselves,” he said.
