Editor:
The referendum for the new pool, or repairs to the old pool are in the back of the minds of many Cariboo residents.
The referendum is only five months away.
The complex is a “gathering place.”
Yes, we must pay for it if we vote “yes” for a new pool, change rooms, gym, etc.
The cost to my family will be approximately $60 per year or $5 a month.
It will mean approximately $100 more a year on my present taxes.
My family and I have used the pool, gym, complex ever since it was built 34-plus years ago.
It is a facility where every child in the school district has had swimming lessons. Some children (until age 14) and adults have continued on with one set of lessons every year. Some children have continued on and been a part of the Blue Fins, competing provincially and in the Canadian league.
The facility is heavily used by seniors for recreation and therapy. Many seniors have attended aqua-size classes for decades.
As we age the facility may be many seniors’ only source of physical therapy and recreation.
The keep-fit programs are of high quality and a necessity towards emotional, mental, social, and physical health for all ages, birth to elders.
One must try to think of recreation for our community 30 years into the future.
The present pool and area was constructed 34-plus years ago for $1 million plus dollars. The $11 or $12 million new cost sounds like a lot of money but by today’s standard it is not, for a state of the art facility.
When voting in November, consider the “best use’ of “our” tax dollars, for a safe, well-used, recreational state of the art facility for future generations of health and welfare.
Chris Hornby
Williams Lake
