As we see it:
So we read in the newspaper that “Woodlands County” may offer $1 to 1.5 million to the Town of Barrhead for their potential new swimming pool. This prospect has opened up a lot of questions. Being from neither the Town of Barrhead nor the County of Barrhead it wouldn’t be any of our business to voice our opinions, but since it is our tax dollars that may cross county boundaries we surely are involved. The main question is: How many regular patrons and how many occasional patrons would frequent the Barrhead Pool from Fort Assiniboine and area? Fort Assiniboine school students have gone to Barrhead for swimming lessons in the past. The drawing radius to go swimming to Barrhead is not that large. Given the low population density in our area and the sociological makeup there are very few that make the swimming trip to Barrhead.
HOWEVER, what an opportunity…. we have the Thomson property to buy (on our terms) and eventually develop so our community can grow and prosper, with the end goal being bringing more families into our hamlet and more students for our school. Also install water and sewer to the County yard, Linda’s Motor Inn and the industrial area. They do have water problems and very serious sewer problems. This $1 to 1.5 million would cover those very needed, “council promised and partially started” projects instead of giving it away for, in our opinion, photo ops.
We are aware of the provincial push to combine counties with urban centers into larger municipalities or even singular entities, like Wood Buffalo or Crows Nest. We support those efforts where it makes sense, like police and fire protection. But as taxpayers the question remains, “Where are the true dollar figures to support the transfer of money?”
There is no law to force communities to accept these co-op schemes. It’s just promoting individuals for a variety of reasons. One should let facts, needs and common sense have its run. The people will find the real way. Regular taxpayers meetings and plebiscites would be helpful and are long overdue in our area.
A good example would be the Allan &Jean Millar Center in Whitecourt. How much did Woodlands County contribute to the total construction? How much on yearly operating costs? Would we participate on larger maintenance expenses or catastrophic events? What are the fees to use it? A single page fact sheet would be very informative. And again how many people from Woodlands County use it above the approximately 20 km radius from Whitecourt? Similar numbers would be interesting to have for the future ski hill, cultural centre and golf course. Where and how did the 22 per cent of Woodlands County cost share amount of participation with the Town of Whitecourt come from?
It should be pointed out that we are not against recreational facilities. We understand that municipal governments pay for these facilities. We know that recreational facilities are not there for profit but for the common good, but the cost to user ratio should at least be publicly investigated.
AND “charity starts at home – Fort Assiniboine, Blue Ridge, Anselmo and then larger out reaches example, overseas.”
Respectfully submitted by Chairperson Chris Redington for FACES
