As the City of Kamloops tries to save money in next year’s budget, it won’t be closing Westsyde Pool down to do so.
Staff recommending reducing hours at the facility, closing it for part of the year or closing it entirely. It says doing so would save between $200,000 and $600,000 in next year’s budget.
But council voted 8-1 to keep the hours the same going forward. The Westsyde Pool and Fitness Centre is open for 12 hours per day on weekdays and six-and-a-half hours per day on weekend.
Councillor Dale Bass says residents of Westsyde have wanted it to stay open.
“I have deluged with people who want it to remain open. Who see it as no fault of theirs that when it was built, it was built to be a community facility. And they’re tired. They’re tired of every couple of years having to fight for their pool.”
The pool was closed for a six-week renovation in the spring, and that closure lasted until September because of COVID-19. It was slated to closed again in the new year when renovations are done to the Canada Games Pool.
“We can’t build consistent membership and use because it has been closed over the number of years. For upgrades in the facility. So if we want to build membership and increase utilization by the community and consistency, we need to leave the facility as it is. And provide, and support, some continuity for the community. And stop looking at it as this optional, on-and-off again,” councillor Sadie Hunter says.
The alternative after December would’ve been Westsyde residents commuting to the Tournament Capital Centre to use the pool, as councillor Kathy Sinclair says keeping a facility open that is much closer for people in Westsyde means people could easily walk, bike or take the bus instead of driving across town.
The city says the pool facility has about 25,000 visits in a normal year.
Council did approved several other methods for trimming the fat out of next year’s budget, totaling more than a quarter-million dollars in estimated savings for taxpayers.
The temperature in civic buildings will be turned down by one degree Celsius in the winter, and increased by one degree in the summer, which staff say will save $200,000 over the course of next year. Street light inspections will no longer be regularly schedules and inspections will be done based on complaints, which will save $20,000. The city calendar will now only be distributed by request, which will save an estimated $25,000. And city hall will be open to the public one hour less per day, opening 30 minutes later in the morning and closing 30 minutes sooner in the afternoon, which staff say will save $6,500 in costs for staff overtime.
With the new savings, finance director Kathy Humphrey says the provisional tax increase is expected to be 0.28 per cent, down from 0.49 per cent before today’s decisions.
Mayor Ken Christian pointed out supplemental budget items will still need to be considered before the tax increase is finalized. Humphrey says if all items were approved, the final tax increase would be about 0.50 per cent in next year’s budget.
