The North Cariboo Joint Planning Committee, made up of Quesnel City Council members and local Cariboo Regional District directors, this week (Nov. 13) discussed plans to move forward on securing funding for renovations of the Quesnel & District Arts and Recreation Centre.
Committee members voted in favour of potentially holding a local referendum in order to borrow up to $8 million over a 20-year period to supplement a renovation project. A referendum would only go ahead if significant grant funding is secured.
In an April 2017 report, the cost of a renovation was estimated at $15.5 million by design firm VDA Architecture; the same surveyor has indicated the current cost for the project is likely $19.5-$20 million, and if construction costs continue to rise, they estimate a future project cost of up to $25 million, according to a City of Quesnel staff report prepared by city manager Byron Johnson.
The CRD is preparing to submit an application to the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program: Community Culture and Recreation, with an application deadline of Jan. 23, 2019.
If received, the grant would fund up to 73.33 per cent of the project – potentially providing a maximum of $18,333,250 of a $25 million project. This would result in a local government share of at least $6,666,750. The application must include evidence that local government has a plan to hold a referendum if long-term borrowing is required – hence the decision at Tuesday night’s meeting.
“We don’t have to commit to when a referendum is, and it would likely be something where you would wait and find out if you got the grant. In order to apply for the grant, the CRD has to have the first three readings for the referendum, for the loan authorization bylaw,” explained City of Quesnel director of community services Jeff Norburn.
He said there’s no way to know when the grant funding will be announced, but they hope for a decision by fall 2019.
“We’ve had federal grants where we’ve applied and waited 14, 16 months to hear whether or not we were successful. In some cases the turnaround is much quicker than that. We don’t have any control over that,” said Norburn.
“If and when we get offered a grant, that gives us the authority to go back to the taxpayer and see if this is a thing they would support,” commented Joint Planning Committee co-chair John Massier.
The loan and renovations would result in increased taxation for City of Quesnel and CRD Area A, B, C and I residents. According to the City of Quesnel report, a significant expansion of the swimming pool is expected to result in an increase in operating costs. The net increase in the operating budget could be as high as $200,000 per year.
A referendum will only be held if the grant funding is secured.
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