the broken typewriter

Following the City of Fort St. John’s decision to pull out of the North Peace Leisure Facility Replacement Steering Committee last month, the Peace River Regional District this week dissolved the Steering Committee.

The city says that the decision “reflects a strategic shift that will allow the City to take a more direct leadership role in advancing the replacement of the North Peace Leisure Pool.”

These moves come after nearly a decade of work on the North Peace Leisure Pool (NPLP) replacement project, a decade punctuated by delays and sporadic public consultation.

Delays and public concerns

Since the current pool was opened in 1996 to replace the original pool, the NPLP has been plagued by on-going maintenance issues, which led to the closure and removal of the hot tub, tots pool and repeated shutdowns of the waterslide. At the same time, the population of Fort St. John and the surrounding area has grown, increasing pressure on the facility to the point where it is no longer able to properly meet the region’s needs.

After getting off to a great start in 2018, with feasibility studies and public consultation, the process ground to a halt in the spring of 2019, a year into the “pause” Covid hit and that delayed any further action on the project until April 2022, when the committee came back with plans for more engagement sessions and a feasibility study in 2023.

Based on what they heard from the public in the engagement sessions, options for the new facility were developed and presented to the public through more engagement sessions in April 2024, six years after planning and consultation for the project began.

One of the hurdles the committee has faced is the increased cost of the project since the first studies were done in 2018. At that time, when asked if they wanted to participate, Taylor, Fort St. John, and PRRD Areas B and C were told the project would cost $60 million. Options outlined in 2024, based on what additional amenities the public wanted to see in the new facility, ranged from $136 million to $284 million.

The other sticking point was that in every proposed budget for the new facility, the cost of the land to build the pool on was excluded. Tay-payers wanted to know what the land would cost, so it could be factored into their decision about whether this new facility was something they could afford.

The NPLP is owned by the PRRD but operated by the city, and thanks to a funding formula developed in 1995, taxpayers in the city, Areas B and C pay a maximum of $1.30 per $1,000 of net taxable value of land and improvements.

The projected cost of the new facility will see property taxes rise for all residents in the service area. For residents in Area C for example, who currently pay $95/year for the NPLP could see their taxes rise between $258 and $584 per year, not including the cost of the land.

In May 2024, The Broken Typewriter reported the results of the April 2024 workshops. Area C Director Brad Sperling observed:

“We heard clearly that residents are concerned about the costs and want more information and opportunities to discuss the potential mix of amenities in the new facility, the costs and property tax implications.”

During a July 2024 update to the PRRD board of directors, Therese Mickelson of Mickelson Consulting which conducted the public engagement said that although residents recognized the need for a new facility, they had significant concerns about the cost, and expressed concerns about what they saw as a lack of transparency around the project.

Resident Carol Kube wrote to the PRRD board, outlining her concerns:

Carol Kube wrote that she felt the process lacked transparency. The August 2022 engagement summary report, which covered the 2020 public consultation, stated that 18 stakeholder groups, and 1455 online survey respondents participated, but there was no mention of who these stakeholder groups were.

Kube mentioned her concern that there is no mention of the cost or location of the land for the project.

“Why is the cost of the land, which is not being included, being kept a secret? The cost of this building is as murky as Fish Creek,” she wrote. “I’m unsure how you can get someone to commit to a project without knowing the true cost.”

Then-Area B director Jordan Kealy also reported concerns from his residents, noting that many people, especially seniors, cannot afford an extra $500 per year in taxes.

“We don’t want to get to the point where they have to choose between food and the tax base for a pool,” he said.

The response to residents’ and Kealy’s concerns:

Trevor Bolin asked Mickelson if the 21 people, who said at the Open House that they didn’t support a new pool, were aware that “in seven years the current pool will no longer be functioning as it currently is right now? That if they were a no, there will be no pool in the region?”

Mickelson said that they provided “very clear information” that the infrastructure of the current pool is failing, and that if people said no, there would be no pool. “Their response was that we don’t need a pool as much as we need to be able to afford to keep our property,” she said.

By this time, the pool project had been underway for six years, and was no further ahead than in 2018, with no option chosen, no land acquired, and no referendum to decide the matter once and for all.

Following the third round of engagement, a report, Proposed Next Steps, was received by the steering committee and contained a recommendation that before moving forward with the project, they examine the existing facility to see if it could be refurbished or expanded to meet the expressed aquatic needs of the region.

Sperling said that they’d been told the building was fine, it was the pool inside that’s approaching end of life. And added that according to the consultants’ report, moving forward with the project didn’t seem to be a viable option without exploring all possibilities.

Fort St. John Mayor Lilia Hansen said she was reluctant to authorize the spending of $100,000  on yet another study, while Bolin said that such a recommendation would violate the committee’s Terms of Reference.

That recommendation was deferred to a future meeting for a decision. As far as The Broken Typewriter has been able to determine, the recommendation to explore the possibility of refurbishing or expanding the current facility has not been discussed since July 2024.

On the other hand, a second recommendation from the July 9, 2024 meeting, which recommended that the steering committee explore grant funding and partnership opportunities to reduce the cost of the project, prior to going to a referendum or proceeding with the project, passed. Once again pausing the forward momentum on the project.

Next Steps

Now that the city has taken over the project, the PRRD is transferring all the “groundwork” for the project, including planning, feasibility studies and community consultation to the City of Fort St. John.

“The groundwork that has already been completed provides a solid foundation for the municipality to build on,” said PRRD board chair, Leonard Hiebert in the announcement of the dissolution of the steering committee.

As part of its approach, the city plans to explore partnership opportunities, review facility amenity options, provide regular updates to the community and continue to build on previous public engagement efforts.

By dissolving the steering committee and putting the project in the hands of Fort St. John alone, this move puts one more option on the table. Of the North Peace Leisure Pool becoming a wholly municipally owned and operated facility.

“We remain fully committed to delivering a modern, inclusive and accessible facility that meets the evolving needs of our community,” Mayor Hansen said in the press release announcing the city’s new role in the project.

“This change enables us to focus our efforts and resources on moving the project forward, while continuing to provide excellent recreational opportunities for residents and visitors alike.”