Costs sink hopes of indoor NOTL pool

A proposal for an indoor pool in Niagara-on-the-Lake is dead in the water as far as potential funding in the 2019 budget goes, but councillors decided to keep the possibility of a new facility alive for the future.

Staff reported on the findings of the indoor pool committee headed by Coun. Paolo Miele and feedback from a survey of residents on the town’s website at a committee-of-the-whole meeting Monday. Councillors voted 5-3 to forward the information gathered to the town’s facility master plan consultant for further review.

According to the staff report, the price tag to build an indoor pool would be between $6 million and $12 million and the annual operating costs would range from $500,000 to $800,000.

Currently the town has two outdoor pools. The St. Davids Pool requires major repairs and needs replacement and Memorial Park Pool is expected to reach the end of its lifespan in 2030. In the online join the conversation survey, the majority of residents voted in favour of either replacing St. Davids Pool with a splash pad or a new outdoor pool and over half of residents wanted to see another outdoor pool at Memorial Park when the current one closes.

Regarding building an indoor pool, more than 60 per cent of respondents said they were in favour. Almost 50 per cent were opposed to a tax increase for the operating costs, but a majority of respondents supported the idea of a partnership of agencies like the YMCA and the Boys and Girls Club to help offset costs.

Toen operations director Sheldon Randall said there is currently an annual deficit of about $900,000 in the town’s capital reserve funding for recreational facilities, making it more challenging to add an indoor pool to the budget.

“We can’t afford the operating costs or the capital costs,” he said.

Coun. Jim Collard said taking further action on the proposal is “flogging a dead horse” and Coun. Jamie King called an indoor pool “a real money pit” and not a priority for the town.

Miele pointed out that the town had a budget surplus of more than $800,000 last year and there are many people in town who want an indoor pool.

“No one is saying we’re building an indoor pool,” he said, but he urged councillors to send the committee’s report to the facility master plan consultant for input.

Councillors decided to approve Miele’s suggestion, but they defeated a staff recommendation that the information in the indoor pool committee’s report be forwarded for consideration in the 2019 capital budget.