In a special meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 16, Barrhead Town Council ratified the gentlemen’s agreement the town and county council agreed on at a joint council meeting a week earlier, but not without a lot of discussion.
On December 10, Barrhead Mayor Gerry St. Pierre and Barrhead County Reeve Bill Lee shook hands on an agreement on which will see the two municipalities share the capital costs of a new ‘Regional Aquatic Centre’ after many months of on and off again discussions.
The agreement stipulates that both the County and the Town will commit a maximum of $5 million each towards the capital costs of the aquatic centre and that the facility would be run by Barrhead’s Parks and Recreation Department.
Councillor Don Smith said while he was happy the two councils had been able to come to an agreement over a new pool, he had his reservations about the operating costs of the facility being included in the agreement.
In the gentlemen’s agreement the town and county agreed that the town would be responsible for managing the facility, and the operating costs as well. The county agreed that it would contribute what they considered would be fair towards the operating costs. However, the agreement does not stipulate what the county may consider to be fair.
“I don’t understand why the operating costs has to be part of the document,” Smith said. “These are two separate issues. This is to do with the capital expenditure of the pool and we should work towards getting an agreement about operating costs at another time.”
Councillor Ryan Warehime responded saying it was the only way the county would agree to pay up to $5 million to build the pool.
“At the last meeting (joint council meeting on Dec. 10) the county made it clear they only had $5 million to work with,” Warehime said. “Whether you take the money in operating costs over the next how many years or split it somehow, that is all the money we were going to get.”
St. Pierre agreed with Warehime, adding if the two councils were ever going to come to an agreement, who was responsible for the operating costs had to be part of the agreement.
“It is definitely not a sweetheart deal for the Town of Barrhead,” St. Pierre said. “It is not fair, but it was obvious this thing would never be built unless we made a concession about the operating costs.”
St. Pierre said because of this concession the town’s other departments would have to find a way to live with less money in the short term, adding that the agreement was only for the duration of the two council’s (town and county) terms.
The terms of the agreement, most notably the operational budget, St. Pierre said, would have to be renegotiated after the next municipal election.
Although councillor Leslie Penney understood Smith’s reluctance to support the agreement, she thought approving the agreement was a big step forward for the community.
“I want to keep positive,” she said. “I know there are people in both the town and the county who all have their own opinion how the operating budget would be split, but I would like to see what they (county) come up with before we get to negative. We have to wait to see what the county thinks is fair.”
Smith replied what the town and county believe is a fair contribution could be drastically different.
“That number could be zero. I hope that is not the case, but that could very well be the situation,” he said, adding that could still be the case after the next election.
Under the terms of the agreement, Smith said, the county would review their contribution to the operational costs of the pool.
“Council has to be mindful, that it is very possible that we (town) could be on the hook for the total operational costs of the pool well into the future,” Smith said. “We all hope that is not going to be the scenario, but it could happen.”
Councillor Ty Assaf reminded council that about two months ago they instructed administration to send a letter to Barrhead County council asking them to release the $5 million for their share of the capital costs of the pool and that the town would assume the operating costs of the facility.
“At the time, I stuck my nose out, and said no for the same reason councillor Smith just mentioned,” Assaf said, adding he has changed his mind. “We are hearing from our residents that they want us to go forward and just build the building. I choose to be optimistic.”
St. Pierre added that depending on how the amalgamation study and subsequent negotiations proceed, it may render any concerns about who is responsible for the operating costs moot.
“If both councils, and the residents of the town and county agree that the best future for our community is to be one amalgamated community, all of these concerns and disagreements will all fall into place,” St. Pierre said. “This is just another example of why this study (amalgamation) needs to take place and looked upon favourably by all residents.”
Councillor Roy Ulmer said both communities had to put this issue behind them and just move forward.
“Lets get this thing built and the rest will fall in place,” he said.
Council voted in favour of ratifying the agreement with Smith being the only dissenting vote.
