Craig Gilbert | [email protected]
Coun. Bert Journault had his calculator out Dec. 5.
On the council agenda were notices related to the town’s proposed operating and capital budgets for 2019. Journault and the rest of council in the coming weeks and months will be working through the tens of millions of dollars of capital requests from Jasper’s various departments.
See a related poll on our Facebook page (or the Jasper Alberta Communicator's) and have your say on which facility should be given top priority. See also a more detailed backgrounder below this story.
According to the multi-year plan, the recreation department has plans to make major changes to the activity centre, arena, aquatic and fitness centre and curling rink. There is about $14.5 million budgeted for such work in 2019 and 2020.
On Tuesday the six members of council present brought varying concerns and suggestions to the table to get the ball rolling. They were provided an itemized list of all the work needed at the JAC and across other departments, like operations, which is responsible for things like garbage and recycling collection, and protective services, which encompasses the fire department and bylaw division.
The list split the work by year and assigned a priority of one or two, which wasn’t enough of a spectrum, according to Mayor Richard Ireland. He hoped to see an updated list with five levels of importance from “critical” to “useful.”
Coun. Rico Damota also craved more information, specifically about the cost of operating the curling rink. Culture and rec director Yvonne McNabb said it was impossible to give a clear answer because the equipment that keeps the curling and hockey rinks frozen is shared, and there’s only one hydro meter.
He used the example of a hotel with a bar. If the owner approaches the bank about borrowing for upgrades, but they can’t provide a breakdown of the bar or the hotel’s finances, what is the bank going to say?
“I’m not trying to accuse anyone of anything, but I have a hard time when I look at the curling rink when I don’t really know what it costs,” he said during the meeting, clarifying in a message later: “I really want curling to be viable. It adds to our overall community (physical and mental) health. We just need to know, like anything else, at what cost does that come to our taxpayers. There’s a lot to get done, and people should know where their tax dollars are going.”
Coun. Paul Butler likewise wants to see a report specifically on the ice plant replacement/relocation, including which other projects are connected to it and would have to be completed at the same time, both with and without the curling rink factored in.
“I’m confident we need to get that underway.”
Coun. Scott Wilson, who owns a contracting company that routinely completes major renovations at Jasper hotels, knows on a practical level how much needs to get done.
He’s also worried about the logistics of getting so many projects completed in the proposed timeline. He noted, as he did earlier this year, that the waterslide, though approved and funded, still hasn’t been completed.
“This list is huge compared to the work we did last year,” he said. “I think the 2019 items could be spread over three to five years.”
He said the ice plant should be prioritized and completed. Then council can start to work down the list and see what is achievable.
Coun. Journault also said the ice plant relocation is critical for reasons including the safety issues it creates for the nearby childcare centre, and should go ahead even if nothing else does. He had other nuts-and-bolts suggestions for the arena, including converting an existing storage room into a sixth dressing room.
“That’s all you really need for tournaments.”
Rec boss pitches pricey curling reno as mental health investment
Fuchsia Dragon | special to the Fitzhugh
CULTURE AND RECREATION
(Not including the Library and Cultural Centre, Museum, or Health and Safety)
2018 Budget - $2,032,751
2019 Budget - $2,187,882
Increase - $155,130
Huge repairs and replacements have been planned at Jasper Activity Centre – and they have a price tag to match.
The Culture and Recreation department has asked Jasper council for millions of dollars to pay for a long list of renovations for the arena, aquatic centre, curling rink and multipurpose hall, all of which are showing their age.
The request is for more than $8 million this year, $6 million next year, and further smaller projects in the following three years.
It follows a facility assessment conducted by architecture firm Group2 in 2015 which highlighted the condition and lifespan of certain areas.
Yvonne McNabb, director of Culture and Recreation, said the main concerns were with health and safety, like replacing and relocating the ice plant.
The unit is currently hazardously placed beside the main entrance of the building, across from the Wildflower Childcare Centre, and will be moved to the other side of the arena.
This project, along with other arena upgrades like replacing the heating and air conditioning system, will cost about $3 million in 2019.
A further $4.35 million has been requested for next year for Phase 1 of improvements to Jasper Arena, Activity Centre and Aquatic Centre.
The improvements include $89,000 for an office/meeting space, $16,000 for new upper-level arena emergency exits, $83,000 for electrical panel boards, and $29,000 for a dehumidifier for the arena.
But the biggest expenditure is for universal and accessible changing rooms – with a price tag of $2,117,410.
McNabb said the size and layout of the existing change rooms doesn’t meet user needs or contemporary standards for arenas.
Councillor Helen Kelleher-Empey questioned if the centre needed four more change rooms when it already has five.
McNabb responded: “Tournaments want to expand but they can’t. It affects the number of tournaments we can have.”
She said the number of hockey tournaments at Jasper Arena has doubled since 2001, with 30 in 2018/19. She said family tournaments brought in about $63,000 last year and men’s tournaments $6,400.
The aquatic centre change rooms are also on the list for a makeover.
McNabb said they are in desperate need of renovating, with “water running under walls.”
“They have repaired the tiles a few times but it’s difficult to get them to adhere to anything now because the walls are so soft,” she said.
The $200,000 project would include relocating the entrance of the change rooms so users can’t enter the pool directly from the change rooms.
McNabb said the current entrance poses an operational challenge because lifeguards have to be on duty until the pool deck can be secured from the public - and this can’t happen until after the family change rooms are empty.
Another chunk of the $4.3 million for Phase I would go towards more changes to the Zamboni room.
McNabb said the room is too small to replace the blade in the Zamboni without backing the whole machine out, causing health and safety concerns.
In 2016, the council spent $135,000 to renovate and expand the Zamboni room to make space for the then-new machine.
On the other side of the centre, Jasper’s curling slab has been in place at the rink since 1972. McNabb said the headers are fragile and beyond repair, and the brine lines subject to cracks and leaks. Replacing the slab and brine lines will cost $600,000.
Councillor Scott Wilson questioned the current viability of curling.
He said: “Curling may have run its course. We have to look into other uses of this space. What is the payoff here? Are we ever going to see the payback?”
McNabb responded: “The payback is mental health and wellness. There are 25 people registered and 208 out-of-town participants.
“The support goes up and down, but it brings people in and active.”
Other proposed replacements for next year include new arena kickplates, lockers, computer replacements and a fridge.
This year the department paid $406,470 in debenture and restricted expenditures. If this budget goes ahead, Culture and Rec would pay $546,201 back in 2019, $930,726 in 2020, and an estimated $1,182,970 each year into the future.
OPERATIONS
2018 Budget - $2,047,335
2019 Budget - $2,287,440
Increase - $240,105
Increase in Utility Fees - $502,253
Big ticket items are also on the 2019 plan for the Operations department.
The department wants $2.2 million for the Waste Water Management Plant for replacing equipment, including a new centrifuge.
Gordon Hutton, director of the department, said some parts are getting old and need replacing to reduce treatment time.
Operations has asked Jasper Municipal council for $250,000 in next year’s budget to reroute a sewer main from the school to Bonhomme and $250,000 to reroute the waterline underneath Athabasca Park, around the information centre.
The department also wants two new $50,000 trucks, and money towards their ongoing programs in road micro-resurfacing, valve replacement, hydrant rebuilding, and garbage bin replacement.
ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP
2018 Budget - $87,500
2019 Budget - $36,248 ($137,248 with salary/benefits)
Decrease on tax: $51,252
Increase on utility: $100,000
For the past 15 years the Environmental Stewardship Program has been equally funded by Parks Canada and the Municipality of Jasper.
But the Parks funding ends on December 31, 2018, so the department has had to move some expenses around.
The Budget proposes to increase revenue in water by $85,000, sewer by $294,000, garbage by $65,000, and recycling by $57,500. $25,000 a year from each of these revenue streams would go towards the Environmental Stewardship salary.
This year, the Environmental Stewardship department continued working with the town on recycling, waste management and energy projects. It educated locals and tourists in programs on pine beetles and Fruit Share – reducing in-town wildlife attractants and food waste.
Janet Cooper, Environmental Stewardship Coordinator, said she was looking for a location for a public electric vehicle charger. She has submitted a grant application to Natural Resources Canada for the project and said we are “close” to getting one behind the library.
Next year, the Environmental Stewardship department plans to continue its environmental initiatives like the car charger, reduction in single-use items, the Pine Beetle Verbenone program and efficient dark sky lighting.
