Fort Smith approves arena borrowing
Plebiscite gets 90 per cent support for $4-million debt
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, November 24, 2014
THEBACHA/FORT SMITH
Residents of Fort Smith have overwhelmingly voted to approve a $4-million debt to help pay for renovations to the community's arena.
In a referendum Nov. 17, residents voted 89 per cent in favour of borrowing the money for work that has already started at Fort Smith Centennial Arena, which was damaged by fire in May of 2013.
"This decision allows us to focus on the future and provide the citizens of Fort Smith with a four-season facility that will be an energy efficient, user friendly, attractive, warm, hospitable building that will match the welcoming spirit of town citizens for a significant number of years to come," said Mayor Brad Brake.
An existing 10-year-old pool $4 million debt is to be paid off in February of 2015. It will now be renewed for the arena. It is expected to take about 10 years to pay off the new balance.
In all, 295 votes were cast in the plebiscite - 263 in favour and 30 against, along with two rejected ballots.
"It's not a huge turnout by any means," said Brake, who noted it was roughly 15 to 20 per cent of eligible voters.
The mayor said the low turnout could have been caused by a number of factors.
"We did everything we could to inform and educate our voters on this," he said.
Coun. Don Webb, chair of the council's plebiscite committee, said he was also hoping for a larger turnout, but noted it was about the same as voter turnout in recent federal by-elections.
Despite the low turnout, Brake and Webb were both pleased with the high level of support for the debenture.
"That gives us a good mandate," the mayor said.
"It was an incredible response," said Webb.
Jessica Cox, chair of the Recreation Advisory Board and a hockey coach and player, also welcomed the result of the plebiscite.
"I think it's a very positive endorsement from the community allowing the town to move forward," she said. "It is great to see the strong support of recreation programming. The hockey community is very excited about what the arena will look like."
The total cost of the arena renovation is expected to be $8.3 million.
Along with the $4 million from the now-approved security bond, the project is being paid for with $1 million from the town's recreation infrastructure reserves, $1.8 million from capital project funding, $1 million from insurance, and support from a number of other sources.
Aside from the insurance money and other funding to repair the fire damage, town council decided to undertake additional renovations totalling $6.85 million.
The work began in June and is expected to continue until the fall of next year.
If voters had not approved the additional debt, the town still intended to complete the work with other financial resources, but that would have meant the possibility of a tax increase.
The ice surface at Fort Smith Centennial Arena became available to users earlier this month in an arrangement like last year with washrooms and change rooms in trailers outside the building.
The renovations are expected to extend the lifespan of the 46-year-old arena by at least 35 years.
