New Four Seasons Pool, Fire Hall 1 funding going to public vote

You can have your say about whether you’d like to pay for the new Fire Hall 1 or Four Seasons Leisure pool.

City Council decided at Monday night’s meeting to put the $50 million debt plan to a public vote on October 28th, 2017. Loan authorizations for long-term projects must have resident’s approval before being made official.

Projects

Council put both these projects on the funding list during February’s 2017 budget deliberations.  The 50-year-old Four Season Leisure Pool was audited last year, and consultants found the facility needs a larger tank, family change rooms, viewing space and better accessibility. It’ll take $35 million to build a new facility and demolish the old one. The money would be paid back over 20 years (bringing annual debt servicing costs to an expected $2,352,550).

It’ll take $15 million to replace and relocate the 61-year-old Fire Hall 1. A recent evaluation found the building’s “size, location, and post-disaster structural requirements don’t meet standards.” The bay doors and inside height aren’t large enough for modern vehicles, and, ironically, the hall doesn’t meet fire separation and fire-resistant building codes. The debt term for this projects is also 20 years, with an annual service cost of about $1,008,236.

Elector assent

Approval can be conducted in one of two ways. The first way is through a vote, or referendum, which can be pricey and time-consuming – the budget for this is $100,000 and voting day isn’t for six months. The other process is a counter petition method called an “alternative approval process,” where the city assumed a project’s communal support. The debt plan would be scrapped if 10% of city residents disapproved. Council, including Councillor Murry Krause, felt this pair of projects was significant enough for the former method.

“Council and administration wanted a really fulsome process around gaining the opinion of our community. It’s a big expenditure and they’re big facilities, and we think they’re very important to the community.”

The $100,000 will cover the costs of election staff, advertising, and communications.

Educating voters

Director of External Relations Rob van Adrichem will help ensure voters are informed on the upcoming decisions. The city will share information and important dates through its website, social media (i.e. facebook, instagram, twitter, youtube channel), short videos, traditional advertising, presentations to clubs and local organizations, facility tours, brochures, and open houses. This way, whatever your vote, you’ll be well-informed.

“It’s really to make sure that people know about the details of the referendum itself in the sense of when it’s going to run, how they can vote, who’s eligible to vote, all those issues around the logistics of the referendum, but also to provide a bit of background information about the facilities: why they’re even being talked about for replacement,” he says,” That’s really what we’re trying to do through to the communication, just to make people aware so that they can exercise their right vote in this referendum”

Prince George’s General Manager, Administrative Services Walter Babicz was named the Chief Election Officer, while the city’s Deputy Corporate Officer Maureen Connelly was named Deputy Chief Election Officer. The loan authorization bylaw will receive the first three readings during city council’s meeting on August 21, 2017.