Councillor presses community for support

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/03/2023 (979 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Coun. Kris Desjarlais is urging residents in his ward who want to see a community centre remain a part of their downtown neighbourhood to fill city council chambers Monday night for a vote that will determine the future of Park Community Centre.

During a Ward 2 meeting Tuesday evening that was dominated by the issue of whether the current, aging facility would be replaced with a new building, Desjarlais stated his support for a new centre. He also expressed frustration over a city administration recommendation that had pushed council to defer making a decision at its Feb. 6 meeting and set the matter for Monday.

At a city council meeting in early February, city administration presented three bids to city council which all came in over budget. The budget was $1.2 million and the lowest bid came in at $1.5 million. There wasn’t enough money in reserves to cover the $300,000 shortfall, administration stated. Taking money from the parks reserve would delay green space projects.

To Desjarlais’ consternation, administration advised council to reject all three bids for the demolition and replacement of the centre.

“We weren’t asking for that,” Desjarlais said Tuesday.

Council had already decided before its February meeting to act against the city’s recreation master plan, he said, which would see the current building demolished and replaced with green space. He said he’d expected administration to provide its choice for a proposal and allow council to decide whether to proceed or not.

Ultimately, council voted to defer the decision to its March meeting.

Technically, councillors are only being asked to decide whether to accept or reject the tender for demolition and construction of a new centre.

City manager Ron Bowles has said a decision to not award the project would mean administration would return to council at a future date with suggestions for next steps. The centre would not be demolished or replaced at this time.

However, prior to Tuesday’s meeting, Park Community Centre board member Eldon Schmitz said a vote to reject the tender is effectively a decision to demolish the building and create green space as outlined in the city’s recreation master plan. Schmitz said he doesn’t expect the city will want to run a facility that has a capacity of only 40 people.

The situation prompted the centre board to rally residents to attend the Tuesday ward meeting to “stop city hall from demolishing Park Community Centre.”

Brandon Fire and Emergency Services acting Chief Terry Parlow had to limit the number of people allowed in the building at one time as the number of those who wanted to attend the meeting far outstripped the building’s capacity. The centre once had a capacity of about 145, but is now limited to 40 due to structural issues. It’s estimated that more than 70 people tried to attend the meeting.

Desjarlais told the gathering that besides being frustrated with administration’s recommendation, he didn’t understand the claim that there isn’t money to cover the shortfall for the demolition and construction work.

Many responses to city requests for proposal come in over budget, he said, yet money is found. There’s still $570,000 in the Eighth Street bridge reserve, he pointed out.

“To say there’s no money for the Park Community Centre is just not true,” Desjarlais said, adding administration should have come up with recommendations for finding the money rather than suggesting all the proposals should be rejected.

Council also should have been consulted when administration learned the centre had to be made larger, and therefore more expensive than initially thought, he said.

“I’m confident that … most of council recognize the need for the Park Community Centre.”

The ward meeting was continuing as of deadline Tuesday evening. A fuller story will be available online and in Thursday’s edition.

» ihitchen@brandonsun.com