Future savings for rec centre to be discussed at budget meeting
Shannon LeClair
Times Reporter
One of Councillor Pat Fule’s campaign promises was to look at building a new recreation facility and the possibility of adding another arena to the town. At the Feb. 5 regular council meeting Fule brought the matter up with the rest of council, stating that between all of the service groups who use the Family Centre, ice time is at a premium.
“I did want to bring it forward so we could start being far more aggressive towards moving towards a site. I think Strathmore definitely needs one. The other thing I would like to do is possibly strike a committee as soon as possible of stakeholders who would be planning and working towards this,” said Fule.
Many families have to head out of town for ‘home’ games and for practices, which can be tough. Fule would like to see the topic brought forward to the spring budget meeting for further discussion.
The town currently receives approximately $2.2 million in provincial Municipality Sustainability Initiative (MSI) funding that can go towards capital projects. Fule knows there are long-term goals for MSI funds in capital project funding, but he wants to see a portion of the funds put away for a new recreation centre.
“I totally agree with council in the past that we had roads that needed to be done, we had a major reservoir we needed to do, but at this time looking forward we need to get working towards a recreation centre/arena and I think that will become a huge amenity as far as drawing in people to move to Strathmore as well,” said Fule.
“Its not just for the winter sports, we can use a new centre for various things.”
The Strathmore Municipal Library is looking for a new site; Canmore just built a new centre that has a library attached, so that could be an option. Strathmore could also look at hosting tradeshows, banquets and more concerts if there was such a facility.
“We seriously need to start looking at using some MSI funding to start diverting money towards a building and then, if we do get a committee started, we can start to approach various groups, like service clubs, corporations and start doing some fundraising as well,” said Fule.
“If we don’t look at doing something now, it will catch up to us, and probably make it more difficult for us. If we have to fast track it mistakes happen and things are overlooked, I would rather start the ball rolling on it and go to the drawing board more than once if we have to, to do it the right way, ” said Councillor John Rempel, agreeing with Fule.
Councillor Denise Peterson also agreed there needs to be a long-range plan and that it would be a great idea to create a committee, but feels other infrastructure concerns do need to be a focus right now.
“I agree that we are a vibrant town, but we are a vibrant town that is, at least temporarily, mired in debt. While I’m very much in favour of future planning, I think that a priority for me is that we can still turn on our taps and flush our toilets with some level of confidence. We have other infrastructure concerns that are going to (hinge) on taking any part of that $2.2 million in MSI funding in the near future,” said Peterson.
Chief Administrative Officer Dwight Stanford said administration would begin looking at other communities to see what they have done and gather information to be brought forward to the April 12 spring budget meeting.