In the continuing saga of Barrhead’s new aquatic centre, it looks like the county may be softening its stance.
After the joint town and county council meeting on Thursday, Nov. 6 the possibility of having Barrhead County take over the aquatic centre project was raised with the town taking a secondary role.
Barrhead town councillor Ryan Warehime asked at the joint meeting, that if the town were to accept the county’s first choice of a Sprung Structure to house the new pool, if the county would be willing to take the lead role in the aquatic centre project. It was also a question Barrhead Mayor Gerry St. Pierre asked the county during the joint meeting when he asked, “Are you willing to proceed with the project (aquatic centre) with the possibility that the Sprung Structure is not the right structure?”
He then asked if the county was prepared to accept all the risks in building a sub-standard facility.
However, it seems like the Barrhead county council took the question seriously because on Wednesday, Nov. 13 a Barrhead County delegation, consisting of Reeve Bill Lee and Chief Administrative Officer Mark Oberg, visited Barrhead town council asking for clarification on the town’s offer.
Lee said if the offer was genuine, it was something the county council would have to discuss at some length.
Despite publicly stating the county was not willing to take on any large capital expenditures while the issue of amalgamation is still up in the air, Lee said they were willing to discuss among themselves the possibility of taking the lead role in the aquatic centre project.
This is an opportunity the town should not slip through their fingers. The problem is, though, as much as county councillors like the Sprung structure concept, town councillors dislike it.
A Sprung structure is a building that uses aluminum arches as a frame. The frame is then covered by a strong, puncture resistant fabric. The county believes this structure will be able to meet all the communities needs at a small fraction of the price. Depending on what numbers you use, the county says by constructing a Sprung structure pool, the taxpayers of the region could save as much as $6 million.
The town is not so sure. They say their architect and the other experts they have talked to say a Sprung structure is not appropriate for a pool.
The question is, who is right? Why not make an attempt to see if this question can be answered to everyone’s satisfaction?
Bring in an objective third party expert to look at both the merits and concerns with both a conventional building and a Sprung structure and report back to both councils and the taxpayers.
Yes, that means paying for another study and there is the added issue of finding an expert that both the county and the town were willing to sign off on, but it is possible. And if both parties still can not come to an agreement, at least they can have the satisfaction that they made the effort.
