Entering his second full year as Mayor of Fredericton, Mike O’Brien believes progress will be made on several key issues the city is facing in 2018.
“We’ve got some big projects we’ve got to work on,” O’Brien said. “At the end of 2018, I’d like to see more people living here, some more jobs created for all sectors of the community, and again, keep our tax rate stable.”
Beyond these broad goals, O’Brien identified several big-ticket issues he says top the city’s priority list.
“We have to get a solution to the aquatic centre issue,” he said.
The Sir Max Aitken pool on the University of New Brunswick campus is set to be decommissioned later this year after decades of use.
The loss would leave the city without a competitive pool, a possibility that’s been met with much backlash, not unlike the call for an upgraded facility to replace the aging Fredericton Playhouse.
“Finalize the location for the new performing arts centre and move forward on getting partners for funding on that,” O’Brien said of the issue he’s stated his support for in the past.
Alongside concerns from the swimming and arts communities, O’Brien and council are facing another difficult situation as they look to redevelop the New Brunswick Provincial Exhibition grounds, a task that hasn’t been immediately welcomed by Fredericton Exhibition organizers.
“We’ve got to start moving forward on the NBEX property,” he explained. “We want to talk with the board there about how we can partner with them to find them a new location and put some development plans together so we can have a modern, new community there.”
“Lots of issues, but those are good issues to have,” O’Brien said.
Though he’s only sitting in the mayor’s chair for the past year and a half, his council experience stretches back a decade and a half. O’Brien says he is confident the current crop of elected officials will continue to work well in the new year and help spur growth and prosperity.
“With the council that we have and the committed citizens that want us to do the right thing and make the right decisions, we’ll get great feedback and continue to move the city forward.”
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