At their Council meeting on April 19, the municipality passed a borrowing by-law by a vote of 7-2. The purpose is to allow them to borrow money to build a new curling rink and town hall for the community. According to Reeve Gord Weidenhamer, Deloraine-Winchester had recently received approval from the Municipal Board to pass the by-law after a lengthy delay. Wanting to get moving, they took the chance to make the move as soon as possible.
“Now we can move ahead on the project, which we need to do,” Weidenhamer said.
The project would entail a 400-seat community hall and a three sheet curling rink. Items like a kitchen and a washroom would be shared between the two facilities, which Weidenhamer said would help keep the costs down. The issue came up because both the rink and the old town hall were aging facilities, that those involved felt needed to be replaced.
The project has been a controversial one in Deloraine. A referendum was held on moving ahead, and though it passed in favour, it was a close vote. Community members sent around 100 letters to the Municipal Board opposing the facility, and public meetings have at times been heated. Weidenhamer said the main thrust of opponents arguments have been about the cost of the project in a small town. In some cases, people were willing to support the hall side but not the curling club, which the reeve did not feel made a lot of sense.
“If you are willing to support half the project, why not support the other half? Putting it in simple terms, if people are so dead against it, why not come and help and make it easier for us?”
The by-law would allow the municipality to borrow up to $3.77 million for the total cost of the project. Weidenhamer said they were actually only looking to get a little over $3.3 million. As well, the 6% interest rate for payback is actually negotiable, and now they have permission to go ahead, they can deal with their financial institution to get more reasonable terms.
On top of this, like many municipal projects, the amount to build the project will be mitigated by fund-raising by groups and related organizations. For example, the curling club has committed $20,000 a year to pay for their side’s completion. As well, there have been quite a few interesting initiatives.
For example, they were able to secure two quarter sections of land from retiring farmers that will be planted this year. With help from donations and experienced farmers, they will be able to use the proceeds of the crop to help pay for the project. Fund-raisers are selling tickets for different travel prizes like a trip to Mexico or to Blue Jays or Jets games. There is a 50/50 draw. More will be coming. The recent curling bonspiel in the skating rink brought in a whopping $70,000, so everything is on the right track.
“Things are going over really well,” Weidenhamer stated.
Right now, they are going back to their engineers and contractors. The reeve said the long delay in getting started has meant costs have gone up. They need to stick to the budget so they will be looking at making a few changes so it will work. This is why getting started soon is so important.
“We really need to get going, because the costs keep going up. The more we pay down at the start, the better it will be.”
The hope is they can get going on the building this spring. Weidenhamer said the construction industry is not yet in full swing, so they should be able to get people involved. They figure it will take about 12 months to have everything completed.
He is hoping now that the decision is settled, Deloraine-Winchester can come together to work on a successful project.
“There are good fund-raising ideas, there are people who are excited about this,” he explained. “We really need to come together and I hope we can do that. It is important to move forward. It is a long challenge and we need to do this together.”
by PAUL RAYNER, Recorder staff