Group Seeks To Put Hold on Ft St John Facility

By 250 News

An Open House will be held in Ft St John on August 23^rd to tell residents about the plan to build a new sporting facility that will include an indoor ice oval skating track.

The facility, which is projected to cost $37 Million, was originally intended to be funded by the province, the federal government and the city. The province has contributed $12,500,000 million to the project, the federal government has declined.

Local opposition is being mustered with a view to having the project put on hold. They argue that 12% of the voters turned out to vote on the project and of that number only 58% voted in favour.

The City has a mandate to borrow up to 15 million dollars for the project. The opposition says that the nearby facility in Dawson Creek has gone from a projected cost of $32.5 million dollars to a now anticipated figure of $43.5 million.

Dawson Creek , Deputy Chief Administrator , John Malcolm  says the City of Dawson Creek had authority to borrow $17 million approved under the referendum, that, along with a further $9.85 million, will be what taxpayers in that community are called upon to pay. Malcolm says taxpayers will be paying about 88 cents on each 1,000 dollars of assessment on the initial $17 million ( about $140.00 dollars a year on the average assessment of $160,000 ) plus a further approximately 44 cents for the balance required to finish the project . While he said he could not be accurate on what that will cost the taxpayers in that community, he did agree it would not be less than $1.32 a thousand. That will mean that taxpayers will pay an additional $212 dollars a year in taxes to float the project.

Malcolm says under the agreement that they have with the service provider, the city feels that it will not have to subsidize the project when it is completed. "We are hoping to show a profit" he said. Included in that Pro Forma is the hope that a Tier 2 Junior A hockey team  not unlike the Spruce Kings will produce a good deal of  income.

Opposition members from Ft St John say this would be the first such kind of project that does not require a subsidy on the part of the taxpayers in the community. The Prince George Multi Plex (CN Center) is subsidized by over $300,000 per year and opponents to the Ft St John project say the Dawson Creek multi Plex could end up costing  residents of that community as much as $300 dollars a year in additional taxes to float the project .

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