Council makes M.D. funding request for pool

By J.W. Schnarr
Vauxhall Advance
jwschnarr@tabertimes.com

Vauxhall council has made a funding request to the Municipal District of Taber council to help with the rebuilding of the Vauxhall Public Pool.
During their regular meeting on June 1, council passed motions to send a letter requesting support for Vauxhall’s Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program for pool upgrades, and a motion to ask M.D. council to match Vauxhall’s contribution to the pool with funding of their own.
Mayor Margaret Plumtree said council had discussed whether Vauxhall should send a letter requesting support for the community project, but had not previously discussed a specific dollar amount in the event of a funding request.
“Are we going to ask for a specific dollar amount?” she asked.
“That seems to be what they want. One way or another, they’d like a letter addressed to them, with a council resolution, because that’s the way the M.D. operates.”
“They like their letters,” she added. “So if we want to get them to support us we need to send them a letter.”
Coun. Martin Kondor suggested a request to ask M.D. council to match Vauxhall council’s input into the pool, dollar for dollar.
Deputy Mayor Richard Phillips said that was one possibility, but it raised an issue about exactly how much might be requested.
Vauxhall council does not yet fully know the extent of its commitment after grant applications and other fundraising sources are confirmed.
“You could have a motion to have them match us dollar for dollar up to some reasonable limit, which is probably in the $250,000 or $300,000 range.”
Kondor and Mayor Margaret Plumtree were both in agreement with the idea of setting a ceiling on the funding request.
“We’re not going to put more than $300,000 in ourselves,” said Kondor.
“Worst case scenario, we build a cheaper model,” he added.
“And if the grants come through, then we build the nicer model.”

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