Port Hardy Mayor Hank Bood gleamed and smiled at a few local events as he publicly announced the multimillion-dollar multiplex project will go for tender next month.
Bood has lobbied provincial and federal government for funding since the inception of the project. “We knew our pool was in need of major repair or replacement. It (the current pool) really wasn’t adequate for the younger families,” the mayor said. Mayor and council voted in favour of the project, a 6-1 vote, and decided to move ahead with replacing the existing pool. In an interview, he stressed that the work so far has been a collaborative effort with the council.
“The biggest risk to not getting this done is the time it takes to do it and the project inflating beyond the funding,” he added. Mayor Bood also mentioned the sooner the project is started the easier it is to access grant funds based on the advice from BC’s municipal affairs department.
The district estimates the pool replacement cost will hover around $12.6 million. The district will receive $5 million through taxes from Port Hardy residents, with permission to borrow up to $6 million after having a 77 per cent assent vote from the referendum held in 2017.
Bood reassures residents that the tax situation is nothing to worry about since the project will hopefully spur local business growth. “The tax situation is better now than it was when we were talking about it at referendum,” he said. “It’s important to understand the long game. What you need to do is look further down the line, this expense is occurring now, but at the end of the day it results in less taxes.”
The district will also receive a grant in aid, $1 million, from the regional district of Mt. Waddington, which will be used in debt payments on the borrowing.
Chief administrative officer McCarrick explains that the district plans to apply for $5 million from Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, which may also cover the costs of completing the rest of the recreation revitalization project. The recreation revitalization project includes any recreation construction or repair that does not fall under the multiplex project.
Mayor Bood mentioned a key part in pushing the project ahead was the grant funding from the Federal Gas Tax Fund worth $6 million, covering almost half the total cost of the multiplex project. In the early stages, Marine Harvest donated $250,000 to jumpstart the multiplex project.
As for what to expect next, the mayor noted the project is still currently in the pre-construction phase until January 2019. Tenders go out as soon as November. (A tender is an open request for proposal when the district wants to solicit bids from suppliers or to buy a service.)
Construction is set to begin as soon as January 2019, but for now, mayor and council will have to sit anxiously waiting for the project to move on to the next step. Construction is expected to last about a year and a half at least, according to district documents.