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One step closer to new pool

Athabasca is one step closer to having a new pool, having received qualification proposals from firms interested in the project. During the Feb.

Athabasca is one step closer to having a new pool, having received qualification proposals from firms interested in the project.

During the Feb. 21 Town of Athabasca council meeting, council had trouble deciding on who should review the nine firms that responded to the Request For Qualifications (RFQ).

Interim chief administrative officer Doug Topinka said he had already started the process of scoring the proposals, and requested a member of council join him in the process.

Coun. Steve Schafer put his name up for nomination to assist Topinka, and Coun. Tim Verhaeghe followed by nominating Mayor Roger Morrill.

Coun. Joanne Peckham noted that Coun. Shelly Gurba has been on the pool committee longest, and put Gurba’s name up for nomination.

Coun. Tanu Evan’s correctly predicted trouble avoiding a split vote, saying that he “won’t vote for anything that furthers this project until this council actually has a conversation (about financing).”

Council ran through three defeated motions before carrying a motion through.

Peckham’s motion to nominate Gurba was defeated, with Gurba and Peckham voting in favour.

Schafer’s nomination was also defeated, with Morrill, Verhaeghe and Schafer in favour. Morrill’s nomination was next denied, with Morrill, Verhaeghe and Schafer again in favour.

At this point, Morrill asked Gurba if she would agree to decide on a coin flip, to objections from Evans.

“It seems like it’s a reasonable way to decide something now,” Morrill said

Verhaeghe moved to have administration complete the evaluation without council and bring the information back to council, but Topinka objected to the idea.

“I would prefer if at least one member of council did it as well. Again, it is your project, and it’s always nice to have another set of eyes,” he said, and Verhaeghe withdrew his motion.

Finally, a motion made by Morrill to appoint Gurba to the evaluation duties was passed, with Verhaeghe and Evans opposed. Gurba and Topinka will have two weeks to complete the evaluation process, after which time quotes for the project can be received.

Editor’s Note: In the Feb. 28 print edition of the Advocate, this story said the Town of Athabasca’s council had been discussing requests for quotations. Council had in fact been discussing requests for qualifications, not quotations. The Advocate apologizes for the error.

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