Town plans to repair current pool rather than build new

The Town of Bonnyville held their annual open house last week, and much like the year previous, the swimming pool was a hot topic of discussion. The question came up as to why the Town is choosing to forego building a new facility in favour of repairing the current structure. Assistant Chief Administrative Officer (ACAO), Bill Rogers says a new pool is a long term goal of the Town’s; but after an assessment was done by an independent engineering firm, it was determined there was some life left in the facility and it would be fiscally responsible to maintain and repair, then build new.

“Based on a study that was done earlier this year, Council made the decision to invest money into the pool that we have now, opposed to trying to raise money for a new pool; because of the cost difference,” from Council’s decision, Rogers explains the engineering firm laid out a list of items that need to be done, based on importance. “We went about a prioritizing exercise and looked at the things that need to be done right away, the things that should be done and then what we call, ‘the nice to do items’.”

Rogers explains that Council has voted to undertake the ‘Need to Do’ items in 2017, “which are about $300,000, that are drafted in the Budget, are mostly centered around mechanical upgrades and repairs. Things we really need to do, right away, to extend the life of the current pool.”

“Some of the items on the list we’ve already done this year,” Rogers says a team is going through the list to ensure the ‘Need to Do’ items are being completed, “some of the items on the list, if we do them, then we need to do something else that needs to be done in conjunction with them. For example, if you switch over to digital temperature controls then you might have to look at doing an upgrade to the piping. We’re currently going through that exercise.”

Recreation Committee

Another question posed on Council was whether or not there was a opportunities for a recreation committee to assist in securing funds, from grants or the Alberta Lottery Fund. Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Mark Power says there are opportunities for such third party, community driven, committees; however, there’s some backstops involved.

The Alberta Lottery Fund comes with the need for Council’s support, typically in a letter, explains Power. “Council has given out three or so letters of support, and there’s three or four on Tuesday’s agenda. Community groups are going to get a lot more support from the Provincial Government, than Municipalities.” Power says grants are open for municipalities to apply, but in his experience the Province looks at community groups first.

“The reality with the swimming pool is it’s backstopped from the Town of Bonnyville and the MD of Bonnyville. So, it’ll only be eligible for funding from the Provincial Government if they don’t get applications from community organizations.”