Area F And Vanderhoof Voters Pass Pool Referenda
Saturday, February 16, 2013 @ 10:20 PM
Prince George, B.C. – Voters in Vanderhoof have elected a councilor and said yes to construction of a new swimming pool facility. Voters in Area “F” of the Bulkley-Nechako Regional District have also passed their pool referendum.
A by-election was called to fill the seat on council left vacant by last October’s resignation of Louise Levy to facilitate her move out of town. The result of Saturday’s vote: John Murphy elected to the seven-member council with 782 votes, Peet Vahi 336 votes and Marje Makow 319.
The result of the referendum to borrow $4 million toward the construction and operation of the pool was 1207 in favour, 353 against. The $4 million would be paid back over a 30-year period. The pool will cost taxpayers in Vanderhoof 86 cents per $1000 of the assessed value of their residential property. Total cost of the pool would be $12 million, with the remaining $8 million coming from provincial and federal infrastructure grants, corporate sponsorships and individual donations.
The proposed pool building is to include a 4-lane swimming pool, a leisure area and a hot tub. The tentative plan is to build it next to the Vanderhoof arena. The anticipated construction period is between one and two years.
The District’s Deputy Administrator Tom Clement advises that the referendum results are unofficial at this time and will be finalized on Monday.
The voters in Area “F” of the Bulkley-Nechako Regional District also voted on the establishment of a pool service contribution to the annual operating cost of the facility. The vote, as yet unofficial, was Yes 585, No 472. The cost to Area “F” residents is $1.08 per $1000 of the assessed value of their property, excluding land. The first $50,000 of farm outbuildings is also exempted.
Area “F” representative Jerry Petersen says one of the major concerns of some voters was being forced into accepting the pool if Vanderhoof voters approved it. He says that’s why separate votes were conducted, adding if Area “F” voters had rejected the referendum, taxpayers in Vanderhoof proper would have been left picking up the entire bill for the pool.
Area “F” encompasses Cluculz Lake, to the west beyond Plateau Mills, halfway into Fort St. James and south to the Blackwater.
Comments
Interesting pool configuration. Smithers has a 4 lane lap pool like that.
So a $150,000 property in Vanderhoof will be paying about $125/year for 30 years for the pool.
It may soothe anti-pool folks to realize that a pool for Vanderhoof is going to be the best investment possible for current home owners. The investment, of course, pays off in property values. An annual payment of $250, in light of a $300,000 home is peanuts. If property values increase even 1% as a result of the pool the benefit to a current home owners is approx $3000.
With local mining on the increase, families needing accommodation + the pool + recent amenity improvements = demand for real estate. It’s a simple formula that forward thinkers understand well.
I can’t help but wonder if any of these so called Forward Thinkers are on the school board which recommends closing schools because of the drop in anticipated enrollment. How can the population be expected to increase for one cause yet be expected to decrease for the other. Guess it depends which side of the fence their walking at the moment.
As an owner of property at Cluculz lake as of now I’m going to encourage all Cluculz lake property owners that did shopping in Vanderhoof to boycott all the business and spend there gas dollars, food, hardware, furniture,fabric,clothes etc dollars elsewhere to show that we never should have been included in the vote. I spend my dollars there to help out but as I already pay for 2 pools in Prince George like many others with property on the lake we never should have been included. We at the lake need a Volunteer Fire department and improvements in our Community hall so I guess it’s time to include all of Area F into the next vote and if we organize all the Property owners of the Lake we should be able to outnumber the rest and get what we need not what we don’t. On the ballot and in the paper it stated .74 per thousand and now it is 1.08. Quite a difference and a reason to appeal this taxation. The properties on Cluculz Lake have increased drastically over the last few years and will continue to do so not because of a New Pool but because we already got a pool in our front yards. It’s time we all appeal our taxes as we are being Taxed on the Lake Property because of were it’s at. We have no other benefits, no water or sewer, garbage pickup, high speed internet, just High Taxes because of our existing pool. Now as owners of Cluculz Lake we need to boycott
You can rest assured the increase from .74 to 1.08 is just the beginning!!!
“If property values increase even 1% as a result of the pool the benefit to a current home owners is approx $3000”
The simple total of 30 years of paying $0.86 on $1,000 of property value for a $300,000 home is $258 x 30 = $7,740
If the property value were to increase by $3,000 in the initial year the pool is built, that increase in value would increase to the following after 30 years of tax payments for the total of $7,740
1%$4,043.55
2%$5,434.08
3%$7,281.79
The three percentages are 30 year averages ranging from 1% to 3%. So, in order to achieve a payback on the increased tax an average of property value increase of 3%/year would have to be achieved.
A big gamble in my books.
Besides, we could start talking about the current situation many Canadians and people south of the border find themselves in â house rich and cash poor. Until one sells a house, the value of a house is really not something one is interested in unless one wants to borrow against it â¦â¦ such as to pay for higher taxes â¦.. ;-)
Yes, and why was area F, only selected in the taxation base? Why were the other areas dropped out of it?
They were dropped because last time they returned a NO Vote.
having a pool in Vanderhoof won’t make property on Cluculz lake worth more so the money spent supporting it is only money flushed down the toilet, instead of spent on things needed in our own community. People of Vanderhoof wanted it and people that owned property at the lake only got one vote per property if seasonal and two votes if they lived there so the vote was stacked from the beginning. If we as property owners had got a fair vote I could except that majority ruled but it was anything But.
Well All I see here is pepole worried about $$. My guess is you dont have any kids or grand kids. There is really nothing to do in vanderhoof and I think thats why more and more trouble is starting. There will be swimming lessons, swim teams and who knows what else. Bordon is the death of vanderhoof. Not all of use like to hunt or farm. The pool is going to bring alive the community especially for all those who cant afford to drive to prince george. No more wasted weekends driving with the kids. I aften thought many times of moving because of no pool in town. Time to wake up into 2013 and get in motion and start swimming.
Sincerely a big supporter!!!
If people in Cluculz Lake think there is any sympathy for people that own 2 houses you’re mistaking. I have no children yet I am forced to pay school taxes that do nothing for me. It is money that just goes out for nothing. But as a civilized society we all pay for things that don’t benefit us but makes a better community in general.
Many things will come to Vanderhoof and area because of this.
But the biggest return will be children who LEARN how to swim and not drown in the Nechako or the many lakes in the area.
How do you measure a young life?
I and my wife are raising our grandson. He and his school friends mean the world to us.
And the people with disabilities that can’t afford to go to PG. What of them?
They too will use the pool.
And denying people one more excuse to go out of town helps everybody.
Also a thankful supporter.
I have 2 Gran children and I have 4 kids that learned to swim in lakes I went to with them to learn to swim. But at the Lake we Have no fire protection So your theory is if they can swim they will be safe. If your theory is correct I assume the people of Fraser Lake and Ft St James and other areas that would use the pool are just going to let them drown or drive past Vanderhoof to learn to swim in Prince George. Or are they going to pay more to use the pool the rest of us paid for. The people of Cluculz Lake drive out from town to the lake not past to swim in your new pool that we get to pay for. How does it work with the Library do the residents of Cluculz Lake get the same benefits or do they pay more to get books. I guess we should all get a key to the Community as we will be paying 1/3th the cost of the pool and not using it.
I made some phone calls and was told by one person who had property on Bobtail that as a resident of Vanderhoof they got to vote and as a property owner of Area F they also got a vote but if you owned property in Area F but were in the Cluculz Lake fire protection you could do a mail in ballot but not if you were outside that zone that you must go all the way to Vanderhoof to vote. You were not allowed to vote at Cluculz Lake Community hall. Even a person I know at first was told he only got one vote even though his wife and himself turned up to vote then when challenging them that they lived there full time they both then got to then vote. From these conversations I also asked how the rate was different that what was advertized in the paper and was told the $1.08 was on a letter mailed to us.
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