Barrhead area residents had their first opportunity to get the latest information and voice their opinion about the proposed aquatic centre during a town-sponsored open house on Wednesday, Sept. 16, at the Seniors Drop-in Centre.
Although the open house was scheduled from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. most of the action took place between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. when Barrhead town council, administration staff and the project’s lead architect, Steve Bushnell, from BR2, were on hand to answer questions from the public.
The town has scheduled a series of four Barrhead Aquatic Centre Information sessions, prior to both the town and county’s vote on their borrowing debenture bylaws. If Barrhead town residents vote in favour of the bylaw, it will give the town permission to borrow up to $5 million towards the construction cost of a new aquatic centre.
The county is also asking its residents if they are in favour of borrowing up to $5 million for the construction of the aquatic centre, but unlike the town, county resident’s vote will be non-binding. Both votes are on Oct. 7.
The evening started out with moderator Steve Lyster outlining the agenda for the event. After introduction statements, from Mayor Gerry St. Pierre, Reeve Bill Lee, and Barrhead and District Agrena Society President Shannon Carlson and a presentation from Bushnell, the floor was opened to questions from the audience. All questions were submitted in writing.
St. Pierre said in his introduction statement that it was time to end the debate over the aquatic centre once and for all by voting yes.
“A yes vote on the debentured borrowing bylaw will indeed be the right decision for the future of our community. It is time to build the right facility and build it right,” he said. “As I have said many times, there is a risk in doing something, but there is an even bigger risk in doing nothing. I prefer to do something.”
Lee said the reason why he and other county councillors were in attendance was to clarify the county’s position on the pool.
He said their position could be best summed up in the agreement the county signed with the town on Jan. 14. In the agreement the county agreed to contribute up to $5 million towards the aquatic centre’s construction cost. The county also agreed to contribute what they feel is fair towards the operating budget of the facility until October 2017. After that, Lee said the county and town would reopen negotiations to determine a new amount.
Lee then went on to explain how the county contributes to the town’s recreation facilities.
“What has happened over the last 11 years is that the town asked the county to increase its funding for recreational purposes,” he said, adding at the time the county paid about $75,000 to the town.
Lee said the county increased that amount by $5,000 every year, eventually changing it to a five per cent increase annually. The amount currently stands at about $170,000 a year.
“We are here to support the town and its project and we wish them good luck,” Lee said.
Carlson said for the last five years the Agrena Society has been actively working towards building a new aquatic centre for the area, adding there have been many obstacles, which have complicated their efforts.
“Remaining positive throughout it all has been our greatest challenge,” he said, adding in the end the group was buoyed by the support they have received from the community.
He said over that time the society has raised $270,000, not including $80,000 from gaming funds.
“All of this has been raised without knowing if the pool was going to be built or what features it would include. To me this is faith. There are lot of people in the community who want this pool and we are headed in the right direction,” Carlson said. “Moving forward, when we accomplish our yes vote our group is ready to go forward with a donation package for town and county businesses and residents, giving them the opportunity to show their support.”
He concluded his opening statement saying since Barrhead’s pool has been closed town businesses have suffered.
“I spoke to a woman today who was going to Westlock twice a day to take her children to swimming lessons,” Carlson said, adding that when she was there she would spend money that would have stayed in the community if there were a pool. “Making a living is hard enough without having to force our customers to shop elsewhere.”
After a quick overview of the project the floor was opened to questions.
Town resident, Chuck Hambling asked the first two questions: how much will my taxes go up per $100,000 in assessment for construction and operation of the proposed pool? How would the town pay for construction cost overruns, if any?
St. Pierre answered on behalf of the town.
“In the town of Barrhead, it is rounded off to $60 per $100,000 of assessment, in the first year, will be added to pay for the debenture. The debenture will be for 25 years,” he said, adding that the additional expense of operating the pool doesn’t necessarily mean a tax increase. “I can’t guarantee taxes (property) won’t go up because the cost of doing business always goes up. But there are other ways for paying for those additional costs.”
St. Pierre gave the example of sidewalks. He said one year instead of building 500 feet of new sidewalk, the town may decide to replace 300 feet of new sidewalk.
“The budget is reviewed in great detail annually and we assess where the tax dollars are best spent and part of it will be the operating costs of the agrena and the new swimming pool,” he said.
Coun. Ryan Warehime added that it is estimated the operating budget for the aquatic centre will increase by about $230,000 over the old pool.
As for any cost overruns in construction, St. Pierre said the town has built in a 10 per cent contingency fund into the $13 million construction budget.
“There are two ways we can do that,” he said. “Either by raising taxes or finding it in our existing budget and I believe we can find it in our existing budget.”
County resident Vince Wiese asked if it was a no vote and the construction of the pool were to be significantly delayed, is there any penalty for cancelling the contract with the aquatic centre’s project manager, Clarke Builders.
St. Pierre replied since the town doesn’t have a signed contract with Clarke Builders, there would be no penalty.
Greg Gramlich, town resident, asked if the projected costs for an aquatic centre supervisor was a shared cost between the agrena and other recreation facilities.
Warehime said the potential of having a combined position for multiple recreational facilities was certainly a possibility, but as a new project it was included as a line item in the pool’s operational budget in case it was decided the facility needed its own supervisor.
Multiple residents asked how much money the town has invested into the pool project to date.
Coun. Don Smith answered that the cost over the entire lifespan of the pool project going back multiple years, is $602,000.
County resident Fred Buck asked if the town has projected how much building a pool during an economic downturn may compare to a boom time.
Warehime said the town hasn’t done a study per se, but suggested the recent 51 St. project would be a good example.
“Two years ago, during a higher economy, and I think the project came roughly down to $2 million and it originally was an $3.8 million project,” he said. “Not to say that will happen with the pool, but that gives you an example of boom versus bust economy and how prices can vary.”
Rita Lyster, of Making Waves, said while county councillors have said they are in favour of the pool their actions have said otherwise, giving the example of the county complaining about the operating costs of the pool. In her question she asked what is the county’s official position?
“The county is in favour of construction of a pool,” Lee said, adding when the town first approached the county about the pool they asked if they would contribute to the capital cost of the facility.
He said after consulting with Municipal Affairs, accountants, auditors and others the county came up with a figure of $5 million.
“Operating costs was not part of our plebiscite (held in March 2014). If the town wants more in operating then we will have to cut the capital costs back. Our agreement is for the capital,” he said, adding that the county is still making a contribution to the town to offset recreational costs.
Lee said in their 2015 budget the county has given the town $935 for preliminary pool plans, $56,724 for arena operating costs and summer student wages of $25,918.
“We also took the first half of our debenture, because we felt this project would move along much faster, and increased our taxes and budgeted for a single payment of $142,058 and put into reserve our normal $84,000 that would normally be going to the pool,” he said. “If we were against the pool why would we be doing all that?”
The evening ended with a question from Lyster to all the Barrhead town councillors.
“If the vote is no, can each council member comment on their future (plans) and when we could restart (aquatic centre process)?” she asked.
The council was unanimous stating they all believed the vote would be overwhelmingly in favour, but if it were no the project would have to begin again from the beginning.
“If by chance, it is a no vote, I am not sure if I would have the stomach to continue on,” St. Pierre said. “We have a lot of other projects and a lot of other important issues in this community and we will go back to focusing on them.”
The next open house is at the Summerdale Community Hall on Wednesday, Sept. 23, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The presentation and question and answer portion starts at 7 p.m.
