Following a failed community referendum to build a new pool, Summerland, B.C., council has given the green light to fund some pricy repairs on the existing facility.
Roof repairs are already underway at the aging Aquatic and Fitness Centre.
“The roof is definitely a first priority repair. We had a significant leakage happening into our pool basin,” said Summerland Community Services director Lori Mullin.
Council first gave the green light to fix the roof back in November and allocated $110,000 from the general fund capital works reserve.
But on Tuesday, staff explained that the repairs will cost thousands more than expected.
“In the process of roofing they found that a lot of the wooden structure of the roof had been rotting and needed replacing as well. It’s not entirely unexpected,” said Summerland Mayor Doug Holmes.
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“So, the additional cost came to another $240,000. What was $110,000 project is now $350,000 project.”
Council voted on Tuesday to use a portion of its growing communities fund, which the province gave communities for infrastructure projects, for the additional $240,000.
Staff estimate that the entire project will take approximately two weeks, minimum, to complete.
“There’ll be no additional tax implications for this,” said Mayor Holmes. “For the future, I can’t say.”
This follows a failed community referendum, in which 58 per cent of the community voted against borrowing $50 million to construct a new facility.
According to a Facility Condition Assessment Report in 2018 the facility is nearing the end of its serviceable life and needs significant upgrades in order to stay operational.
“Where we’re at now is we are looking at our current facility and completing necessary repairs to keep our building operational,” said Mullin.
“So, we are currently underway with a roofing project, so we are replacing a portion of the roof as a major repair for the facility.”
Once the roof repairs are complete, staff will continue to investigate all building systems to see what if any repairs are needed in the immediate future.
“Anything that’s a minor repair, we’ll be completing those as we go,” said Mullin.
“Any major repairs or upgrades will be coming back to council for the 2025 council budget deliberations for considerations for any major repairs or upgrades as part of the five-year capital plan and that will be a decision that will be made at that time.”
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