Dear Editor:
After studying hundreds of pages of documents and Freedom of Information requests, meeting with city staff and council members, taking the pool tour with maintenance staff and attending the open house, I have come to the well researched conclusion that this project, as presented, is not well planned and is not responsible.
It’s not reasonable to offer the taxpayers only one option or to present the referendum as if it is a question of approving this loan, or we will no longer have a pool.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
The process by which we got here hasn’t been transparent and it has relied almost exclusively on outside consultants rather than the input of the residents.
The most important question is, “Can Summerland families, seniors and all residents really afford this pool?” But that isn’t at all what the marketing campaign of the last few months has focused on. I have seen percentages, grant numbers and estimates, but what I haven’t heard made loud and clear is that this will cost every homeowner an average of at least $560 per year for the next 30 years, before factoring in any unforeseen cost overruns.
We all recognize the value of a community pool, but that tax increase comes right out of a family’s budget. That’s a $560 dollar cost whether or not you use the pool and in addition to user fees if you do use the pool.
After 30 years with interest, this one piece of recreational infrastructure will end up costing each homeowner an average of $17,000 and the community over $100 million.
The next most important question is, “Does the community actually need a new and 50 per cent larger facility?” I have heard the repeated catch phrase that our facility is at “end of life,” but this is just that, an exaggerated catch phrase.
Our pool is fully operational. Certain components of the facility may have exceeded average service time frames, but everything can be fixed; it just requires money and the decision to fix it. Staff have chosen not to do facility upgrade recommendations from the 2018 Condition Assessment for five years.
Our pool is meeting the current needs of the public and is not over capacity. There is also room to add more staff and longer hours. Did you know our pool closes at 6:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays?
Marketing is being used to give the impression that the choice before the public is to either approve this loan or lose the pool. That’s not true. That would be a future council decision. Why is staff misleading the public? If this referendum returns a No vote, the issue of our pool will come back to the council table. Reports and studies will be revisited and different decisions will have to be made. The taxpayers of Summerland deserve the chance to consider a range of options that are more modest and achievable.
As a community, we must let this extravagant project go and come up with an affordable plan to maintain our community pool.
Amie Harbor
Summerland