Following on the heels of their last get-together, Thompson city council continued to discuss issues surrounding the Norplex Pool at their Oct. 16 meeting.
Coun. Duncan Wong brought this up right out of the gate by trying to add a resolution to the agenda that would call bylaw 1956-2017 to be read and introduced a second time.
Bylaw 1956-2017 was initially introduced at the Oct. 2 council meeting and allows the city to borrow $340,000 in funds to perform mechanical and electrical upgrades on the Norplex Pool.
Although council passed the first reading of this bylaw by a vote of 6–2, Wong vocally opposed this $340,000 debenture and questioned why the city couldn’t finance this project using reserve funds instead.
Staying true to form, the majority of council defeated his latest motion to bring this bylaw back for a second reading. But Wong’s disgruntlement on how this project is being funded was echoed by at least one private citizen during the general inquiries section of Monday’s agenda.
“We as council decide what capital projects are going to be funded out of the reserves and then as a council we decide what capital projects will be funded from other resources,” responded deputy mayor Kathy Valentino, who was filling in for the absent Mayor Dennis Fenske. “And in this place it was the decision of this council that it would be funded by a debenture.”
Valentino later told the Thompson Citizen that the reserve funds they could use for this facility have already been allocated for other projects.
Discussion surrounding renovations to the Norplex Pool didn’t stop there, since it was the topic of two resolutions that were voted on near the end of the meeting.
One resolution called on the council to approve the cost of removing of the pool’s old water heater, while the other was to approve the cost of installing a new replacement unit. According to Andrew Hillaby, director of recreation, park and culture, the total cost for both projects is about $58,000.
Even though this project is going over the $30,000 budgeted, Hillaby specified in a memo that they will make up that difference by dipping into the $340,000 debenture.
Ultimately, council voted to pass these two resolutions, with Wong and Coun. Ron Matechuk being the only ones voting opposed both times.
