The tender process for the new pool is nearing the finish line, and it is picking up speed with no rival in sight.
During the last Town of Athabasca council meeting, a joint meeting with Athabasca County to review the four final bids and award the tender contract was approved. The contract award could proceed without much of an opportunity for ratepayers to offer input after they have seen in hard numbers what the pool will actually cost them.
In an interview conducted this week for the Advocate, CAO Doug Topinka said “If the pool goes ahead, yes, then there will be information to the public how the town is funding its portion and if there will be any effect on taxes.”
It’s too late by then. What exactly is the point of public consultation about the effects of a multimillion dollar investment if it has already been signed, sealed and approved by the town and county?
In that same interview, Topinka said that taxpayer’s approval of the $5-million loan to fund the town’s 40-per-cent portion of the pool’s capital cost is taken as their approval of the project.
Actually, approval of a $5-million loan is approval of the project if it doesn’t cost the town more than $5 million.
The most recent figures provided to the public provided by the pool design committee in its February open house pegged the potential capital expense at $15,906,000. That would make the town’s 40-per-cent portion $6,362,400. If you’re counting, that’s $1,362,400 more than what was approved by taxpayers.
Maybe now that both councils have the actual tenders in front of them, they have reason to be optimistic about how much the pool will cost. There was hope at the last open session that tender bids would come in lower than estimated, and that could certainly be the case.
The issues is, and has always been, the lack of willingness to go back to the public with more information when the information can be made available. As it stands, the project could be approved before the public has had an opportunity to process how the capital and operational costs will affect their taxes.
Shouldn’t ratepayers have an opportunity to think things over before they sign the dotted line?
