Committee of the Whole grapples with capital projrcts

That generated some talk about whether to bother putting out the capital expenses for a new home for the train if it’s use is in question.

“Is there any point spending $1.5 million on [a shelter] for the train if it’s not going to run,” enquired Councillor Tim Bennett.

While the City owns the train, The Exploration Place operates it and is open to a long-term operating agreement. But there is a caveat.

“The Exploration Place and the City both have the same goals in mind. We’d love for a Little Prince to be solid for our future and to be operated for many years,” explains Andy Beesley, the Director of Civic Facilities and Events. “The caveat is twofold. One is, is that they really do require a new shed. It’s the existing shed is just not good for the train. It’s it’s deteriorating its condition badly. And the second one is, is that lately Tony is a protected park. And so any digging whatsoever that we do has to be approved by the archeological branch, which is a federal administration.”

The Committee passed the following:

1. REFER the unfunded capital project #3242 “Little Prince Train Shelter Replacement” for consideration in the 2027 funded capital plan; and

2. DIRECT Administration to return a report to Council with alternatives on the currently proposed project, including an option more reflective of a direct replacement of the current asset.

“So we’re going to have a fulsome report coming before the year and year end that really details everything that we need to put into an operating agreement that would solidify things for another ten years. Now, that also looks at things like Heritage Canada.”

“Well, Little Prince is such a unique asset that for certain The Exploration Places, very interested in assuming we get a long term agreement in exploring other funding opportunities, including from Heritage Canada, but also other other, funders that might be interested in supporting this asset.”

Also on the list of re-directed capital projects was a new score clock for Kopar Memorial Arena, at a cost of $450,000 in 2026.

“The challenge with Kopar is that the building is in good shape. It’s perfectly safe for the general public to use. But there are some things behind the scenes. There’s asbestos underneath the floor so we don’t touch the floors. Up in the ceiling, there is likely some mold. And so we don’t really want to go up in the ceiling at all, because you don’t want to disturb mold because then it becomes airborne. So, moving the score clock would likely mean going up into the ceiling. And that’s something we really want to avoid at all costs.”

Possible options: Possibility of video walls, either at one end or at the other, or both. And, over time, those wideo walls could be transferred.

“We’re trying to look at this in a way that – knowing that KOPAR is near the end of its life, whatever we put in there – we’d like to be able to reuse, and we think we can come up with a solution that would satisfy the Spruce Kings need to have a video wall, but also we could repurpose them in other arenas for, to replace old score clocks in the other arenas.”

That the Committee of the Whole RECOMMENDS Council:

REFER the unfunded capital project #3462 – “Kopar Memorial Arena Score Clock” for consideration in the 2027 funded capital plan; and

DIRECT Administration to return a report to Council with alternative video options that would meet the Spruce Kings’ needs and be relocatable for use in other facilities.

Three other projects – $400,000 to improve landscaping at the intersections of Highways 97 and 16, $600.000 for 3D software “to display the existing build out of the city and model future growth informed by policies,” and a multi-million dollar project to build a ring road around the city – failed.

by Cheryl Jahn

Committee of the Whole grapples with capital projrcts

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