Chestermere City Council directed city administration to terminate the civic centre field house project, administration to begin a feasibility review for a new field house to be built at a site to be determined, and for a future school site to be made a priority, during the Nov. 1 Special Meeting of Council.
“I want to focus on a clear priority for the school site, it’s important that these things are championed by council for the kids. I want to make sure we give ourselves an opportunity to fight for this, sometimes it seems challenging, but we can push for this,” said Mayor Jeff Colvin.
The two possible school sites are located in the Dawson area.
The original school site is under a large pile of dirt that would cost a significant amount to remove.
“That site isn’t as close to development as the civic centre site is, the civic centre site does have services, and asphalt to the site,” Colvin said.
Adding, “We don’t have any building contracts for the civic field house. There is no construction contract, it hasn’t been signed.”
Councillor Ritesh Narayan asked for administration to present council with the entire civic centre project before terminating the project.
“The intention is good, but we’re discussing lands that belong to the developer. This council hasn’t been presented with the entire project, about different engagement pieces, all the work, and how this is costing what it’s costing,” Narayan said.
“It’s very important that we learn about this and learn about what it is that we’re cancelling. The last thing we want is to cancel this and build something else for as much, if not more,” he added. “There’s nothing to lose in getting information, the more information we have, the better decision we can make.”
Prior to the Nov. 1 Special Meeting of Council, city administration consulted with legal counsel and notified the two active contracts about putting the civic centre project on hold.
“We felt that any exit strategy for the project needs to be vetted, there are a number of players involved and commitments, and there’s a domino effect,” said Director of community Operations, Kathy Russell.
“In my opinion, they should not have considered even for a moment a 40-million-dollar field house in Chestermere. Chestermere is too small, can’t afford the debt, we can’t afford that concept in the least. Can it be done at a different site at a different price, absolutely I’m for that,” Colvin said.
Councillor Shannon Dean believed pausing the civic centre field house project was the best option until city administration could present the project to council.
“I believe putting a pause on the project means not spending more money, there are no more staff hours or proceeding with contracts. I’d like to see specifics. It seems with each council meeting we get a new piece of information. Putting the project on pause allows us to educate ourselves,” Dean said.
“I’m missing a couple of pieces of information. I want to hear from city staff on detailed data and analysis on community groups, community engagement, and I’d like strong community input,” said Councillor Sandy Johal-Watt.
She added, “We need to be prudent in the decisions we make and make sure we’re encompassing all residents.”
While Councillor Stephen Hanley believed the cost of the civic centre was questionable.
“The recreation is a valid consideration, but not for 40 million. The project should be stopped, and we should be considering how we are going to satisfy those needs,” Hanley said.
“These are not the needs of the community. This was a far-reaching interpretation of what administration thought the needs were. This was poorly handled from day one. It doesn’t match the needs of the community,” he said.
