In what some are calling a surprise move, North Bay City Council voted by the slimmest of margins to build a new double pad Community Centre at the Steve Omischl Sports Field Complex in the south end of the city.
Last week at a special meeting of city council, it was left for council to decide if it was in favour of spending roughly $250,000 to hire an architectural and engineering firm (s) to study both the Omischl site and the Memorial Gardens site, weighing the pros and cons of each in determining the best location to build a new arena, community centre replacing the one in West Ferris.
At Tuesday’s regular meeting, Councillor Bill Vrebosch put forward an amendment to the motion asking council to identify Omischl as the preferred site for the new build and that staff be directed to initiate a Request for Proposal process to select the architectural and engineering firms to assist in “completing a detailed cost analysis of environmental, geotechnical, parking and traffic impacts of locating a new double ice pad adjacent to Omischl Sports complex.”
Council voted 6-5 vote in favour of the amendment.
“I think we’re wasting $250,000 doing a study to get the same results we’ve got already. So, I want to use that money someplace else, and maybe have a long-term plan for that area. I want a recreational hub. It can’t happen at the Memorial Gardens site,” said Vrebosch.
“Omischl has a few rocks and a few weak zones, but that can be fixed. It also fixes up the dressing room problem, where football teams didn’t have any place to change there.”
Mayor Al McDonald, community services chair Johanne Brousseau, and city councillors Mac Bain, Marcus Tignanelli and Dave Mendicino voted against the amendment.
Brousseau acknowledged that it would cost more to build at the Gardens but noted no one knows how much more.
“All we have right now is speculation and educated guesses,” said Brousseau.
“Voting ‘yes’ to this amendment is saying that council does not require more detailed information prior to making a decision. Accepting a detailed cost analysis will not delay the construction start date, the spring of 2020.”
Brousseau went on to say that $250,000 is a proactive expense representing less than one per cent of the total budget.
In defending the need for the studies, councillor Dave Mendicino stated simply that “we don’t know, what we don’t know.”
He went on to say,
“Let’s make no mistake about this, both sites have not been fully investigated, fully costed out, looked at benefits of both, and the site preparation challenges of both. How do you make such an important decision without going through this process? Without having all this information?” asked Mendicino.
“Have we looked at how the energy park at the Gardens factors in? No, we have not. This is a fact coming right from hydro, the energy park is extremely underutilized right now and could easily handle two new pads. More utilization translates into more cost efficiency, not just for the two pads, but also for the Gardens and the YMCA, resulting in significant utility savings to be realized here.”
Councillor Scott Robertson supported the amendment, agreeing with Omischl site option.
“One thing I haven’t really heard anybody mention is the fact that we are considering building a community centre right next to a community centre. We talk about this as a multi-use recreational facility that is going to have programs for seniors, and a walking track and a place to have coffee. That facility exists. When I hear people describing that, it sounds exactly like the YMCA.”
Councillor Chris Mayne who was a member on the former arena committee was a big proponent of the North Bay Mall location, but with that off the table, his preference is Omischl.
“If we’re closing a community centre in the south end of the city, we should replace it in the south end of the city as well. I think the Omischl location has the best potential. In that area of the city, there is good potential for both residential and commercial development, whereas the Memorial Gardens location effectively is saturated with residential and commercial development already.”
Councillor Mike Anthony expressed his concerns about the Gardens site.
“One is the traffic and parking issues that we already see during hockey games. And there is more cost, especially when we look at a new roadway or entrance way.”
Deputy Mayor Tanya Vrebosch expressed her satisfaction that council is moving forward on the project.
“It has been since 2013, and it has been continuous delays, continuous studies, continuous committees. Moving forward is the right thing to do, and we know some of the facts. We know Memorial Gardens has more site preparation costs. There’s no question about it. And that money would be taken out of the community centre,” stated Vrebosch.
“I have $30 million in our budget to be able to build it. Any money we have for extra site preparation takes away from the community centre. So, am I happy that we’ve made a decision? Am I happy that more money should be able to be spent on a community centre? Absolutely.”
Councillor Mark King who chaired the original arena committee is pleased with council’s decision.
“The committee spent a lot of time on this, and I certainly felt very comfortable voting the way I did and speaking to it. I think we’ve done the right thing. In the end, you have to make a decision and you have to move on,” said King who believes the cost of building at the Gardens would be exorbitant.
“I would speculate at this point that we were probably into a minimum of $10 million, probably more like $12 million to $15 million strictly because of the construction of a bridge. We know how much those would cost. We would have to access either off Cassells or Fisher Street. We would have lost a whole bunch of that parkland which wasn’t negotiable on my part. Over the years that will be a real important green belt for a lot of people that live in that surrounding area.”
Mayor Al McDonald had previously gone on record as stating his preference was Memorial Gardens.
“As long as it was fiscally responsible,” clarified McDonald.
“But at the end of the day, council has made a decision, and it is my job to make sure that council’s wishes are carried out."
The evening began with public presentations, mostly from people asking council to take its time, study both locations to make an informed decision, to ensure that got things right.
One presenter pointed out that the study meant adding another few months onto a project that has been years in the making.
