The District of Summerland, B.C., says it will have to spend money on keeping the town’s only, and aging, pool open.
Last year, the district came up with a plan to build a new recreation centre, albeit one with a $50-million price tag.
The plan also included a $25-million grant from Ottawa, but that never came to fruition. In fact, on Tuesday, the district announced its grant application was refused.
“There’s not too many public swimming pools in the province that old,” Summerland’s mayor, Doug Holmes, told Global News last fall.
However, the district noted that its grant application was sent a year ago, but it didn’t receive a yes or no answer until recently.
It would have been nice, said the district, had Ottawa sent its answer earlier — like before a referendum held in November if the town should borrow $50 million to build a new recreation centre.
Summerland said it “submitted its request to Infrastructure Canada by the application deadline of Feb. 28, 2023, but wanted to ensure construction could begin as soon as possible given escalating building costs.”
It added that “council therefore decided to proceed with a referendum on Nov. 4, 2023, with the expectation that a decision on the grant application would be announced in time to provide voters certainty about the cost of the project.”
Now, Summerland says it will be bringing forward a resolution to hold fund-granting programs accountable by establishing decision dates.
“It’s disappointing we had to wait a year before finding out about the grant,” said Holmes. “The government imposes tight deadlines on municipalities to submit grant applications yet has no schedule for itself to review and approve those applications.”
Summerland says it will start the process at this year’s Southern Interior Local Government (SILGA) annual convention, and will call on both federal and provincial governments.
Overall, the failed grant is water under the bridge, as roughly 58 per cent of referendum voters said no to borrowing $50 million. However, what if Ottawa said yes and Summerland was seeking to borrow only $25 million?
Would that number have changed voters’ minds?
That’s the importance of getting Ottawa to make decisions quickly, said the district.
At the same time, Summerland says it will also be putting forward a resolution “calling on the provincial government to amend the municipal assent voting process to allow for different options on a ballot beyond a single ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question.”
In the meantime, Summerland said it will explore options for extending the life of the Summerland Aquatic and Fitness Centre, which was built in 1976.
“Funding has been approved to repair a section of the facility’s roof and other basic maintenance and repairs,” said the district, “while larger time-sensitive upgrades will be considered as part of council’s 2025-29 budget deliberations.”