Aquatic centre facing extended closure in 2011

By Mona Mattei

Budget overruns for the Grand Forks Aquatic Centre are forcing service cutbacks for 2011. This year’s annual pool shutdown in mid-August for maintenance could be as long as six weeks to reduce costs, John Mackey, director of recreation and facilities for the Regional District of the Kootenay Boundary (RDKB) indicated.

Compensation and utilities increases have caused the financial shortfall, explained Mackey.

 

“The RDKB just completed a three-year contract with CUPE and there was a 16 percent increase over the three years,” said Mackey. “Utilities is the other one. We spend probably about $110 – 115,000 in utility costs annually. I believe the City is talking a major increase in electricity which is one of our biggies, and Terasen’s also looking for an increase in natural gas so we’ll be seeing double digit increases there as well.”

 

In January, Mackey and the staff reduced scheduled opening hours at the pool about five hours a week. But these measures are not enough to offset the anticipated costs.

 

“Basically this is cost-cutting for savings,” said Mackey. “We basically have outgrown our requisition numbers. We can’t go back to referendum until 2013 to increase the requisition level.”

 

Local government can only ask for increases to requisitions from the taxpayers every five years. In 2008 the RDKB went to referendum for the increased costs of the pool renovations that are now complete.

 

The proposed extended break was approved by the Grand Forks Recreation Commission but has not been adopted by the RDKB yet. It will be presented to the stakeholders – RDKB area D and the City of Grand Forks - at a budget consultation meeting on Mar. 7.

 

“I will be putting forward the extended six week closure instead of the usual three-week closure,” said Mackey. “We’ve been working on this now since September. We have some other options out there but it depends where they’re (the stakeholders) coming from and how they view the business plan.”

 

Mackey said that it’s been seven years since the last increase to the requisition for operational costs.

 

This service cutback is a separate issue from the proposed expansion of the aquatic centre to accommodate a new gym facility. Since the gym would be a capital project, the proposal may proceed to referendum at the elections slated for November 2011.

“The expansion to the aquatic centre would be a stand-alone capital project,” explained Mackey. “We’re still working on this one. If they (the recreation commission) keep waiting for grants to do that project we may never do it. They put a resolution forward last month to the board of directors in Trail that they want the project to go ahead and now they’re looking at possibly going to referendum just for that project which is separate from operating costs.”