Council Tuesday night gave the go-ahead to proceed with Robron Park improvements – which include an artificial turf – despite a difference of opinion on council.
The discussion began with an impassioned plea from Al Rimell, the president of the Campbell River Youth Soccer Association.
Rimell, backed by a public gallery full of young soccer players, urged council to move forward with a badly needed new soccer field.
“Over the past three years, field closures have had a negative impact resulting in up to one-third of our games being cancelled each season,” Rimell said.
“Game and practice cancellation has had a negative impact on our activities, resulting in discouragement and declining enrolment in our fall and winter leagues. A light, artificial grass field solves the problem.”
Coun. Claire Moglove agreed and was eager to move forward with a financing option for the $4.88 million project that involves $700,000 from the Parks Parcel Tax set aside by council over the last few years, $125,000 collected from field user fees, $350,000 from Development Cost Charges for park development, $100,000 from the city’s gaming reserve, $300,000 from the Community Works Fund and $1 million that the city is hoping to secure from senior levels of government or other funding sources.
That would leave the city with a shortfall of $2.3 million which the city would borrow from the Municipal Finance Authority or from council’s own Fixed Asset Replacement Reserve, set up by council for the purpose of borrowing to finance projects.
Money borrowed would be paid back by raising the Parks Parcel Tax by $25 per year per household.
The pay back would be over a five-year period, which avoids a $50,000 referendum. Council did put Robron Park through a referendum in 2008, but the project was lumped in with borrowing money for a downtown events centre.
“I’ve heard a lot in the newspapers and in some of the e-mails I’ve received that somehow by moving forward we are not abiding by the referendum results of 2008 and I want to put that issue to rest,” Moglove said, explaining that the 2008 question tied both the events centre and Robron Park together and the amount council was asking to borrow then was much higher than it is now.
“I think the motion before us tonight has no bearing on the referendum results of 2008. I have no hesitation whatsoever in going forward with this project without the necessity of going to a referendum,” Moglove added.
Coun. Ryan Mennie agreed that it was unfortunate Robron was piggybacked on another issue during the last referendum and said since then he has heard a lot of support for finishing the project which includes an artificial turf, upgrades to the Merecroft and South Birch parking lots, utilities and drainage upgrades, an upper walkway and lookouts, paths and trails, as well as spine/bleachers and landscaping.
Moglove said the public has identified Robron Park as the number one priority for parks and recreation in the city’s Strategic Parks Survey and questioned why the city conducted the survey if council is not willing to follow the recommendations.
Coun. Andy Adams, who has made recreation infrastructure improvements a priority during his time on council, acknowledged that council has already set aside money for Robron and this is the chance to finish what was started.
“We have an opportunity here and the opportunity is subject to federal or provincial or some other source of funding to the tune of $1.1 million to see this happen,” Adams said. “To wait and to not fulfil…what was democratically approved in these chambers, to not move forward, would be a huge disappointment and would be an example as to why people point and say that’s why things don’t get done.”
But not all of council was in agreement.
Coun. Ron Kerr thought council was not following the democratic process.
“If the public supports this project, they need to vote for it in the only relevant poll – and that’s a referendum,” Kerr said. “Yes, 12-year-olds play sports and yes they can vote in newspaper polls but they don’t pay taxes. The taxpayer needs to support this project and that’s the only way I’ll see it.
“This is not about support for sports and recreation, I think everybody here supports that. It’s like denying the importance of motherhood, it’s a given. But what I’m hearing is somehow the good times have returned. Because we’ve got some projects happening in this community, all of a sudden we can start spending money again. You just have to look up and down the Island and at the rest of B.C. and that’s not the case.”
Mayor Walter Jakeway also preferred to let the taxpayers have the final say on Robron.
“During the last election I made it blatantly clear it has to go to a referendum,” Jakeway said. “When the voters democratically voted no, the boss says ‘no.’ The fact the question might have been tied up with another item, to me that makes no difference. When the voters said no, that means no. So I’ll be voting no.”
But Jakeway and Kerr were alone in voting no as the rest of council voted in favour of directing city staff to prepare a financing strategy for Robron Park as well as to actively pursue grant funding opportunities for the project.
