Aquatic Centre discussion turns into city outlook

After a lengthy discussion that started with the proposed Aquatic Centre, council will explore options to add a number of amenities to the building.

Mayor Steve Black says one of those things would be a court for the game of Pickle Ball, a sport described as one of the fastest growing sports in North America.

Also being considered is a leisure pool, saunas, hot tubs, indoor tennis courts and indoor squash courts.

The cost is estimated between 33 and 40 million dollars, but Black stresses the true cost won’t be known until the RFP is finalized.

The request would allow council to cut any of these add-ons after the RFP comes back to stay within budget.

Councillor Rick Dubeau was the only one to vote down the request when it came time to it.  He says there isn’t a big appetite for a pool at this time, adding this is the wrong time to add to the city’s debt load.

Dubeau also made mention of the impending closures of Kidd Operations and Dome underground operations in future years, along with the 10-year Connecting Link project to try and solidify his point on the matter

“We got to lower our taxes,” he said, adding the population and taxation is trending downwards.

The rest of council took the opposite stance, citing the resolution from Mayor Black says “that the RFP be developed to allow City Council the option to remove any of the items in order to stay within budget.”

Nevermind the cost restraints, the question is being raised on if the pool is a need or a want.

Councillor Noella Rinaldo says she sees the pool as a need for the community.

Black says if you can find a city with the population of over 40,000 without a pool, to let him know.

The discussion led to a talk on the state of the city, and council needing to make decisions that may not be popular.

Black says the majority of the city may not support the Aquatic Centre proposal, but adds many didn’t support the library, museum or police station.

It looks as if the Aquatic Centre could follow that trend.  The presentation states the city would aim to send out an engineering/construction RFP by the end of the year, and award the project to a company in July 2017.

But choices will need to be made before any shovels hit the ground.

CLICK HERE to look at the presentation on the Aquatic Centre, as well as how Black and the city aims to finance the centre.