During Monday night’s meeting, council passed the first three readings of two bylaws that allow the city to borrow all needed funds for building the new Fire Hall #1 and Four Seasons pool.
Combined, the projects will cost $50 million: $15 million for the fire hall and $35 for the pool. The city would repay each over 20 years. These budgets don’t account for any demolition or land-buying costs.
City residents, however, will decide if either bylaw passes fourth reading during the October 28th referendum.
“The total project costs and all that is in the taxpayers’ hands when they come out to vote in October on the referendum,” says City Councillor and Acting Mayor Brian Skakun, “We just put the wheels in motion for public feedback and we‘re going to get that and in October.”
To ensure Prince George residents know what they’re voting for, the city launched an information campaign in June.
“The reasons we need the projects, the locations, what the fire hall is going to look like, what the pool is going to look like. The city is really going to get involved with putting the details out and letting people know exactly what they’re voting for,” says Skakun.
Council also finalized the exact wording on the voting ballots and the location of both new buildings. The new Fire Hall #1 will be built on Massey Drive on the property east of the YMCA of Northern BC.
The Four Seasons pool will still be downtown but moved to where the Days Inn parking lot is located. To demolish and rebuild the pool on its current site would leave the city without a downtown pool for at least two years.
For more information, you can visit the City’s website.
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