Fort St. John Seeks $4.1M for Aquatics Centre

0:00It's April 1st. You're listening to Canada News today, AI-powered local news. I'm Corey with the story. Fort St. John is pushing forward with a new aquatic center that could cost $185 million, but they've hit a 4.1 million dollar gap in yearly operating funds. City staff laid this out to council on March 23rd, stressing the need to keep taxes low for locals. To bridge that gap, they're eyeing help from the Peace River Regional District through a new funding deal, tweets to the old-service by-law for the current North Peace leisure pool, or a two-tier fee system that discounts city residents. The city grabbed the reins on this project from the Regional District last August, speeding things up to match what residents want. Meanwhile, the Regional District chair, Brad Spurling, says no formal pitch has come their way yet. He points out that money from the 1995 by-law is locked for the existing pool, serving Fort St. John and nearby areas, and any changes, would need a voter referendum.

1:02Not everyone's on board. Former Mayor Steve Thorlaxen calls it a reality check moment, urging the city to team up regionally instead of going solo on. Such a massive spend. Local residents Stephen Foster questions if by-laws were followed, saying they skipped a fresh need study. As talks heat up, the city keeps hunting partnerships at all government levels to ease the load, while the Regional District waits for that official. As before diving in.