Council has decided to place a pause on a future recreation centre in the city's south side until further notice, citing property tax concerns and seeking more input.--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
After looking over city finances council has decided to stop accepting applications from developers on design proposals for a new large-scale recreation and aquatic facility that would be constructed on the south side.
Last October before the election, the city’s previous council approved a motion to accept requests for proposals from developers on preliminary designs for a new outdoor aquatics centre and sports field, at a cost of $3.9 million.
During Monday’s public meeting Coun. Cheryl Phaff put forward a motion council approved directing city staff to cancel the request for proposal requests until further notice to allow new council an opportunity to confirm a vision of a future recreation centre, as well as save funding as the city plans to pay off a municipal budget gap of approximately $9 million within the next two years.
Due to this while maintaining current service levels moving forward, city staff have already proposed an annual consecutive property tax hike at 5.6 per cent in 2026 and an additional 5.6 per cent hike again the following year.
The RFP process was budgeted to cost $3.9 million, however that is only the first step of the construction process.
Although construction costs to complete the project are uncertain, council heard the new facility, without outside funding, could raise property taxes by an additional 3 to 12 per cent on top of an already proposed hike of 5.6 per cent.
“Which I can’t imagine there’s much appetite for amongst people,” Phaff told reporters. “There’s just so many details that we haven’t had a chance to look at and we just want the time to be able to do that.”
Coun. Chris Hellman echoed Phaff’s concerns during the open meeting.
“I don’t know if there’s an appetite in our community for that kind of increase at this time and I think there’s some other things we need to consider, too,” said Hellman, who suggested looking into future grant funding from the provincial and federal governments.
“But we don’t know if that’s available or not so maybe do some more research on that first before we go to a design phase and invest that kind of money.”
Coun. Bill Cocks said the Big Marble Go Centre is underutilized by the community and already offered Hatters a quality recreation facility.
“There are a lot of factors that come into play here and not the least of which is we have a magnificent facility in the Big Marble which is by anyone’s estimation, I’m comfortable in saying, grossly underutilized.”
Phaff says new councillors should also be given time to discuss the design of the large-scale construction project prior to awarding a contract.
The vision of a new pool was identified as a priority for the Hat in the city’s 2022 Parks and Recreation Master Plan, and would add to the number of outdoor aquatic facilities, dwindling in recent years with the closure of Heald and Heights pools.
Coun. Yusuf Mohammed agreed with council on hitting the brakes on the project for now, however he expressed a desire to continue moving forward with the project as soon as possible.
“I’m hoping that we wouldn’t hold this too much longer,” he said. “Holding off some of those things has an impact on economic opportunity for the city, the vibrancy of that part of town. There are a lot of families and youth and I have to say I am engaged with that community.
“So I know that’s a huge part for sports organizations, youth in our community,” said Mohammed, who suggested placing a deadline on the pause for RFP requests.
The idea of placing a timeline on the project was quickly shot down by other councillors.
City staff are seeking an outdoor pool, along with construction of sports fields in Brier Run, would serve the community as a more affordable option than building a full recreation and fitness centre in the south side.
The project would also allow for the future development of an indoor recreation centre and other amenities.
