I think its time council mosied along on this.
Coun. Ken Johnston was in no mood for a lengthy debate when searching questions were being asked of plans to spend almost $110 million on a rebuilding the ageing Minoru aquatic and seniors centres and a new No. 1 Firehall.
Concerns raised by his colleagues on council included costs to run the new facilities, the size of the new pool and if there should be housing placed atop the new buildings.
We made a commitment to the seniors that these facilities would be replaced and, to me, we can debate until were blue in the face, said Johnston of the proposal, which would see the seniors temporarily migrate across Minoru Boulevard to the former RCMP headquarters.
If the plans go ahead an all-new combined aquatic and seniors centre is a possibility, along with a rebuilt firehall on Gilbert Road and Granville Avenue - a temporary roof would be placed over the Steveston Outdoor Pool, while the new aquatic centre is being built.
In terms of the details, we can worry about that later, added Johnston.
These (facilities) have been on the list for a long time and its time council took action on it.
After more than 90 minutes of debate, council referred the proposal back to staff to dig out more information on: The capacity of the new and temporary facilities; more details of the consultation process; the lifespan of the temporary roof over Steveston pool and, as mooted by Coun. Bill McNulty, densified housing above the proposed facilities.
Reacting to a suggestion from Coun. Harold Steves that only one of the current Minoru facilities be demolished at a time, while the other remained open, the citys chief administration officer, George Duncan, said the integrity of the remaining building would be in question.
When we rebuilt the library and cultural centre, the damage to surrounding buildings was significant, said Duncan.
And I dont think the seniors would appreciate being in the middle of a construction site.
If the old aquatic centre is demolished, the city hopes to utilize private pools across the city to supplement what will be a crowded space at the smaller Steveston pool.
While Steves called for clarification on the near $5 million it will take to bring the former RCMP building up to code as a temporary seniors facility.
City staff said that, when the seniors moved back to their new facility, the former RCMP building would be used to take pressure off already packed city department offices.
Steves also asked for a complete redesign of the Minoru precinct to alleviate traffic congestion and for staff to consider the design of the new ANAF seniors facility in Steveston, where businesses and a social club are integrated with seniors housing in the one building.
If approved, a new, integrated seniors and aquatic centre ($60M to $65M) could be built by 2017, while a new firehall ($20M to $22M) could be finished by 2018. Both would take around three years to construct.
Around $3.5 million is needed to kick off the design phase of the project and funding for the entire program will either come the citys reserves, external borrowing or a combination of both; the latter being recommended by city staff due to historically low interest rates.
