By Cheryl Jahn

Hart Residents Petition For A Pool

Feb 20, 2018 | 4:00 AM

Some 16-hundred residents of the Hart want the City to build the replacement pool in the north end rather than downtown.
That’s the number of signatures on a petition presented to Council last night.
The petitioners argue the City could spend $10 million to fix the Four Seasons Pool and the remaining $25 million could build a pool in the Hart.
They also argued the City does not have a strong endorsement for the high-cost downtown pool.
“While a majority was in favour of this, because voter turnout was so low (only some 14%), in actual fact, just under 9% of the eligible voters gave their consent to spend money for the downtown pool, meaning a whopping 91% did not.”
However, several Councillors remarked on the need to champion the things the Hart has.
“We don’t get petitions this large, but the timing is unfortunate,” said Councillor Garth Frizzell, who added it would be “tremendously challenging, if not impossible” to change the plans now. 
Mayor Lyn Hall says he met with the author of the petition, Svend Serup, saying “there are things we can do.”
But it was unanimously determined the petition has come “too late.”