Turner Valley councillors are keeping the outdoor pool and spray park hours as is, saying the financial savings aren’t worth cutting back recreation in town.
Their decision at the Feb. 19 council meeting follows a Town survey that asked for public input on opening the Dr. Lander Memorial Swimming Pool and Lions Spray Park June 1, 14 or 28, rather than Victoria Day, and reducing operating hours from 95 to 80 daily. The survey ran Feb. 5-12.
“There’s other places to reduce spending,” said Coun. Garry Raab. “I don’t believe you need to cut services to reduce spending.”
The cost savings suggestions were among a dozen presented to council at its Feb. 4 meeting after former Coun. Barry Crane made a motion late last year for administration to find ways to cut operating expenses by just under $200,000 to keep costs in its 2019 operating budget consistent with 2018. Crane resigned Feb. 5 to run for mayor in the April 9 byelection after former mayor Gary Rowntree resigned in January.
The 384 people who took the survey, 87 per cent of whom were Turner Valley residents, showed strong opposition to delay opening the pool and spray park of 71 per cent for June 14 for a $52,575 savings and 86 per cent for June 28 for a $65,600 savings.
Opposition to reduce the pool hours from 95 to 80 hours weekly was 58 per cent, despite the $24,225 cost savings.
Opposition wasn’t as strong for a June 1 opening. Forty-five per cent surveyed supported opening the facilities the first of the month for an approximate $14,625 savings.
Raab said he would prefer to see pool usage data, complete with weather stats, for May before making a decision.
“I’m not in favour of reducing the few services we have in town until such time we have some data,” he said. “Seniors get up at 7 in the morning and go down and swim, even on cool days if the heater works. My wife goes there diligently in the morning.”
Data Coun. Cindy Holladay obtained shows 326 people used the pool last May, compared to 627 in 2017 and 472 in 2016.
Raab said the pool was closed some days in May due to issues with the boiler.
“We have to guarantee our facilities are working, and not by a later date,” he said. “I know that staff is doing their best to make that happen. Sometimes things don’t happen the way they’re supposed to.”
Holladay said it’s not worth the $14,625 savings to open the pool on June 1.
“For $14,000 I would rather keep the service open and look at it for another year now that we have a fully operational boiler,” she said.
Council supported two initiatives that received a positive public response in the survey: developing an online system for citizens to obtain and pay town bills with a $6,000 savings and implementing self-registration at the Turner Valley Campground for a $16,000 savings.
“I’m totally in favour of that with one provision: we have to allow for group bookings,” said Raab of the latter. “If someone comes for a ball tournament and wants to book the whole campground, that’s good for our community, that’s good for our businesses.”
The proposed cuts supported by council total $194,600.
Raab suggested administration look at ways to make up the approximate $5,000 difference. Comments in the survey suggested reducing staffing and wages, reducing hours or closing the Oilfields Recycling Facility to move to curbside recycling and cutting employee perks like parties and luncheons.
Todd Sharpe, chief administrative officer, said they’re ideas administration will consider this year and next.
Other savings proposed by administration on Feb. 4 were $6,000 in restricting colour-copying, $9,500 in telephone expenses, $15,000 to scale back hours required for an in-house contractor for the Occupational Health and Safety program and $29,000 to eliminate a full-time equivalent parks worker and use additional summer staff instead.
Another $5,000 can be reduced in eliminating software and hardware that’s not being used to its fullest potential, $104,000 in engineering and project management costs and $4,100 to clean office mats and uniforms in-house.
The 2019 operating budget will be adjusted to accommodate council’s decisions and come before council again on March 4.
