After hearing that Parkinson Recreation Centre (PRC) is 乌鸦传媒渇unctionally obsolete乌鸦传媒�, city council, at its May 15 regular meeting, directed staff to proceed with a funding strategy to replace the facility.
乌鸦传媒淲hat I乌鸦传媒檓 hearing from the general public is let乌鸦传媒檚 get on with it,乌鸦传媒� said Coun. Luke Stack. 乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檝e been talking about it for eight years now, it乌鸦传媒檚 time to move it forward.乌鸦传媒�
The PRC redevelopment is expected to cost at least $180 million, with an additional $62 million for site and offsite works.
Coun. Ron Cannan said while he believes investment in recreation is paramount for the community, he is advocating being more fiscally conservative.
乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檇 like to see a rebuild of PRC but I don乌鸦传媒檛 believe it needs to be triple the size,乌鸦传媒� he added.
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Cannan also pointed out that the price has gone up by tens of millions of dollars over the past several years.
Staff expressed concern that if the city waits further to redevelop PRC, the cost will skyrocket.
乌鸦传媒淚nflation will happen continually,乌鸦传媒� said Derek Edstrom, divisional director of partnerships and investments. 乌鸦传媒淚f we wait another five or 10 years this is going to dramatically increase as well.乌鸦传媒�
Coun. Stack said citizens want more when it comes to sports and recreation.
乌鸦传媒淲e simply do not have enough today. Even if we give this the go-ahead today, we乌鸦传媒檙e still talking years before they乌鸦传媒檙e actually useable.乌鸦传媒�
As well, $36 million has been set aside for the Glenmore and Mission activity centres, $4.5 million for Rutland Recreation Park and $5 million for partnerships with UBC Okanagan and Okanagan College.
The total is $287.5 million.
Of that amount, the city will need to borrow $241.32 million, but it also includes capital taxation, reserves, and grants.
There are $13 million in grant funds included in the strategy, which is coming from the $26 million Growing Communities Fund grant the city received earlier this year.
Part of the funds will be used to help soften the taxation impact of increased debt servicing costs. Staff projects that the taxation portion of $241 million will cost residents approximately $20 per year for five years, and the yearly tax increase will be in the 3.66 to 4.83 per cent range over the project construction years.
Borrowing the money would need to be approved by residents through an Alternate Approval Process (AAP).
It involves two weeks of public notification and 30 days for responses from residents. The AAP is expected to be conducted in late August to early September.
READ MORE: Replacement for Kelowna乌鸦传媒檚 Parkinson Recreation Centre could have affordable housing
gary.barnes@kelownacapnews.com
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