The question of questions was the number one question at Woodlands County this week.
At their regular meeting Mar. 17, Woodlands County council had their first look at a survey they hope to send to county residents on the Whitecourt Culture and Events Centre.
The proposed facility would see the Town of Whitecourt get a new library, town office, and 600-seat performing arts centre, all under one roof. The price tag is projected at $59.5 million. Under the funding model, 12 per cent of the funding, or around $7 million, would come from partners. The main partner the Town of Whitecourt is currently wooing is Woodlands County.
In a rough draft of the survey, the number presented was a $3.51 per month tax increase for the average homeowner to pay for the centre.
Councillor Alan Deane took umbrage with that number. According to Deane, when they first discussed the survey in the County’s Governance and Priorities meeting, the plan was to add 20 per cent to the cost of the complex, and double the projected operating deficit. The County’s desire was to present a monthly tax increase that factors in those costs, and the $3.51 does not.
Under the current model, the facility would cost $59.5 million, and run an operating deficit of $400,000. Under the numbers Deane proposed, the facility would cost $71.4 million, and run an operating deficit of $800,000.
Reeve John Burrows also wanted to see the added costs factored.
“I do not think that is an unfair thing to do, given the economy and where we are at, given some of the feedback we have gotten on the numbers,” said Burrows.
Administration noted when they initially tried to do that, it made the explanation of the numbers overly complicated.
The question of security around the survey was also raised. As proposed, the survey would be conducted anonymously online. According to administration, an anonymous survey gets better results, but there is no foolproof way to confirm that a County resident is answering it.
This led to concerns about other parties skewing the numbers.
“There is no way to know that people that are answering this survey reside in the county,” said Deane. “Knowing whether they do or not or where they live is only important if we have a whole bunch of people from outside the county who are staging themselves as county residents.”
Burrows then wanted to know if it would be possible to have physical copies available at locations throughout the county for residents without internet access to have an opportunity to answer. Administration said it was a possibility.
With the request to add the increased numbers, and to figure out a secure distribution system to ensure that only county residents could respond, administration went back to the drawing board to devise a new survey.
With the timelines involved, council lamented they will require a special meeting to approve the revised survey. Burrows said this speaks to his frustrations he has had with this project.
“Had we been involved with this just a little bit earlier, there could have been different scopes considered, and we could have found ranges and things like this,” explained Burrows. “But now we have this, and this is the only option.”
Under the timeline presented to Whitecourt town council at the Town’s Mar. 14 meeting, the Town hopes to have partnerships secured by May 31, 2022.
