Pool study concerns Fort Erie councillors
$50,000 expenditure in $14.3-million budget
Although Fort Erie’s capital budget includes tangibles, such as money for sewers and roads, it was a study concerning a new outdoor swimming pool that attracted most of town council’s attention during budget deliberations last week.
At issue was $50,000 in the $14.2million budget for a study to determine the need to replace the aging Kinsmen Pool. The funding was to come from reserves ($25,500) and development charges ($24,500).
Ward 6 Coun. Anne Marie Noyes expressed concern over spending the money and then deciding not to go ahead with a new pool.
“If we have a ballpark (cost) of $3 million or $4 million and we don’t have the stomach for it, we’ve put all this money in and it’s something we can’t afford,” Noyes said.
But Ward 2 Coun. Nick Dubanow countered that a pool is necessary.
“We’re a town of 30,000 people, the Kinsmen offer free swimming lessons,” Dubanow said. “We’re surrounded by water. We need a pool — it’s as simple as that.”
Ward 3 Coun. Kim Zanko agreed.
“We don’t have three or four years to decide,” she said.
Despite that, council wound up giving preliminary approval to the budget, including the funds for the study.
The capital budget is broken down to the needs of town departments — corporate and community services, planning and development services, fire and emergency services and infrastructure services.
The latter takes up the lion’s share of the budget, at $11.08 million. Making up a good chunk of that are water-main replacements on Lakeside Road ($4.12 million) as well as sanitary sewer replacement and road resurfacing on Highland Avenue. A further $1.3 million has been set aside for road resurfacing in general.
In his budget presentation, director of corporate services and treasurer Jonathan Janzen said $11 million, or 78 per cent of the budget, will come from capital reserves. Other sources include development charges, gas tax revenues and donations and grants such as the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund (OCIF).
No new debt will be added in 2019. It is the fourth consecutive year where no debentures are being issued to fund town projects.
Monday’s approval was preliminary. Final approval will be given on March 25, at the same time council is scheduled to approve the operating budget. If necessary, that approval could be pushed to April 8.