I haven’t posted anything in a while, but I’ve still been busy with swimming, indirectly at least. I haven’t been in the water in about 3 weeks but I did do my bit for swimming in Oakville last week… have a read…
Cheers,
Rob
David Lea, OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF
No shortage of groups asking budget committee for money
“The market is competitive, every community is promoting themselves as the sustainable, livable, best place to live in Canada. If you are not there to let them know Oakville is exactly that, your voice won’t be heard.” – Mark Brown, Oakville Chamber of Commerce chair
The 2011 Budget Committee played the dual role of Santa Claus and Ebenezer Scrooge Wednesday as some Oakville residents presented their budget wish lists while others called on the Town not to cut important services to save money.
The evening budget meeting packed council chambers with more than 100 people present in what Budget Chair Tom Adams called the largest turnout for a budget meeting in memory.
The vast majority of these people turned out to be supporters of the Oakville Aquatic Club (OAK) whose president, Rob Kent, asked the committee to set aside money in the budget to permit a public-private partnership between the club and the Town that would lead to the construction of a new 50-metre swimming pool in Oakville.
“OAK is an exceptionally successful and top ranked swim team not just in Canada, but in North America. OAK swimmers require the proper facilities in order to achieve at the highest levels including the Olympics,” said Kent.
“However, this pool would not just be for elite athletes, it would also be for more than 10 other large user groups as well as existing Town programs. Recreational swimmers would also benefit from the new facility. It would allow for expansion of existing Town pool programs. The public private partnership would see OAK help with this fiscally sound plan much like the success of the Oakville soccer and gymnastics clubs.”
Kent said the aquatics club would cover the operating costs of the pool, which would be in excess of $1 million per year.
The Town, he said, would need to cover the initial capital costs of the project expected to be in the area of $13 million.
The Oakville Aquatics Club currently has 384 members not counting the 600 members of the ‘Learn to Swim’ program.
The asset life of the 50-metre pool would be about 50 years.