By Grant Warkentin
The new aquatic centre at Strathcona Gardens will open this fall, but some Quadra Islanders are upset they might be asked to help pay for it.
This week’s Strathcona Regional District board meeting was packed with angry Island residents, who made the ferry trip over to express their displeasure with plans to bring Area C, specifically Quadra Island, into the funding model that will pay for the project.
“Directors likely know there’s a lot of community concern about this item, and that’s why the entire gallery and hall are filled with residents from Area C,” said Robin Mawhinney, Area C regional director, during the meeting. “What is on the table here, is that islands with a costly ferry between them and Strathcona Gardens could be paying more than residents of Campbell River, to support swimming and skating recreation in Campbell River.”
On March 25, the regional district board reviewed a report from Stephen Slawuta with RC Strategies, exploring funding options to pay back the loans taken out to finance the $131 million project. Slawuta focused his presentation on trying to explain the difference between direct benefits and indirect benefits from a recreation complex.
“Someone goes to the gym, they benefit directly. That would be probably the most easy example of a direct benefit,” he said. “But ultimately, the provision of recreation services is looking to achieve the most indirect benefits, and those are accrued by all residents in a community regardless of whether they use the facility or the service or not.
“That is ultimately the rationale for the delivery of recreation and public parks and related services, for those indirect benefits.”
One big benefit he pointed out is how a modern recreation facility makes the entire region attractive to prospective new residents, especially professionals who have their pick of communities.
“They help make a community a place where people want to move to,” he said.
Traditionally, the Gardens are funded entirely by taxpayers in Campbell River and Area D. The regional district board is considering bringing Quadra Island into the funding model, based on statistics showing that Islanders definitely use and benefit from the facility.
Since the Gardens doesn’t track the home addresses of facility users, the most comprehensive information available is based on accounts people have created to sign up for programs at the facility. They show that there are 944 accounts based on Quadra, more than half of the 1,535 homes on the Island that make up the tax roll. They also show that out of all the people from out of town using the facility, two-thirds of them are from Quadra, and the most common reason is for swimming lessons.
Slawuta’s report suggested several funding options, one which is covered solely by Campbell River and Area D residents, and another which includes Quadra residents. Because of the differences in average property values between Quadra Island, Campbell River, and Area D, the suggested annual requisition for Islanders was calculated to be $557.86, compared to $525.87 for Campbell River, and $587.52 for Area D.
Without a requisition from Area C, Campbell River residents are looking at $579.22 annually, and Area D residents at $614.75.
Area D Director John Rice was in favour of bringing Quadra Island into the funding model for the Gardens.
“This is more than just a pool and an arena. There are other benefits that the Gardens brings and it’s about time that gets acknowledged,” he said. “I’ve never gone to the Gardens myself, but I understand the value that it brings for the families and the children, and I think that if you went back and talked to a lot of my area residents, they would say the same thing, that they are doing this for the younger families.”
The audience from Quadra included several children, and seniors concerned about an increase to their tax bills. Throughout the meeting there were several outbursts from the audience, prompting chair Mark Baker to ask the gallery to be quiet and respectful.
The board voted 7-6 in favour of moving ahead with crafting a bylaw to add Quadra Island into the funding model. The five Campbell River directors, along with Rice and Baker, who represents Sayward, voted in favour.
“You’re declaring war on your neighbours,” shouted one woman in the audience after the vote.
“Shame on you,” shouted another. “They want us to own nothing and be happy about it.”
The board will revisit the issue at a future meeting, to work out exactly how much each region will pay to support the annual budget for Strathcona Gardens, which will include debt repayments for the upgrade project for the next 25-30 years.
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