Castanet

http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-st ... .htm#85566

Voters in Vernon and Coldstream will be asked to approve borrowing up to $7.53M for a sports facility complex adjacent to Okanagan College in Coldstream.

The proposed facility will include a synthetic turf field, a second soil based grass field and a rubberized track.

It will also feature stands for about 400 spectators as well as changerooms, officials rooms, washrooms and mechanical/.electrical rooms.


Photo: Contributed - NORDOriginally, the cost came in at just under $8.5M, however, those costs were trimmed by nearly $1M at a recent Regional District meeting.

RDNO Parks Planner, Keith Pinkoski, says the budget was trimmed in three areas.

He says the cost of off site upgrades to College Way (streetlighting, curbs and sidewalks) was trimmed from $1m to about $390,000, covered seating was eliminated saving approximately $200,000 while a decision was made to go with a soil based second field opposed to sand based, saving about $145,000.

Pinkoski says he believes the figures will hold up.

"These are all numbers that have been used on previous projects so we are pretty confident in the numbers we're using," says Pinkoski.

"They are numbers that include some contingencies. We're confident we have enough buffering in there to account for any weird fluctuations in the construction."

Pinkoskis says if the project comes under the $7.53M figure that would affect the tax impact downwardly.

The current figure would add about $15 a year to the tax bill over the next 20 years.

If given the go ahead by the electorate, Pinkoski believes the facility could be operational by the spring of 2014.

"If we get approval April 6 we would have a bout six weeks of design and four weeks of tendering so we would be looking at awarding the contract at the end of June and starting in late 2013," says Pinkoski.

"It looks like we would be completing the project, if it goes ahead, in spring of 2014."

If the project gets turned down, Pinkoski says it would have to be significantly changed in order to go back to the people a second time.

As for public reaction, Pinkoski says he is receiving a lot of positive feedback.

"At a lot of the public appearances we have received a lot of good support but unfortunately the ones against it are the ones that are the loudest."

Exact wording of the referendum still has to be adopted with the new numbers in place.

I am typicaly all for progress and support the push towards addtional avenues for sports and actvities, but i can not get behind this with my current level of understanding. I have 2 concerns

1) We have a sports field at Polson Park that is empty every time i drive by. Why would we spend this kind of money when existing infrastructure is not utilized. Is Polson park not suitable for the needs of the community ? if not what would be the cost to upgrade it to acceptable levels?

2) I am concerned about the proposed location. If you think this complex will bring more money into the town via tournaments and additional visitors, would it not be wise to build it close to local business which could actually benefit from close proximity to the increase traffic? For example the under unitized land near Kin Park next to the Westbuild center might be a better location when considering the larger economic implications. ( i have no idea who owns this land)

I welcome your input on this matter.

you know what reallys kills me ?A select group no matter who, always have a personal agenda which somehow leads to
city councel which leads to a referendum.the one constant in their agenda is it always "well its only the cost of a cup of coffee per day" to the average tax payer etc etc etc.Well what about people whom do not want all these uneeded extravagances? (EG) the new areana and Per arts centre were only going to cost 46$ PY average? well I live in coldstream,
voted against it and my first tax bill was 169$.
we need this newest wet dream like we need stomach cancer in my opinion

This facility was supposed to get built in 2008 but the stupid inept radicals lead by Guyla Kiss gang prevented it. It is a complete disgrace that Vernon does not have a track facility and no lighted playing fields. The facility was supposed to be located off of aberdeen road on farmland which is below marginal. Coldstram ranch was even going to donate the farmland.

We have a sports field at Polson Park that is empty every time i drive by. Why would we spend this kind of money when existing infrastructure is not utilized. Is Polson park not suitable for the needs of the community ? if not what would be the cost to upgrade it to acceptable levels?

I proposed a total rebuild years ago in a retro style built with brick and iron and have the playing field lowered to Al MacNiven which died a S-L-O-W death

Quote:aberdeen road on farmland which is below marginal. Coldstram ranch was even going to donate the farmland.

this Farmland was NOT below MARGINAL.Its prime farmland and I very very seriously doubt Keith Balcan would have donated it for free.

Judging by the votes on the news stories here at castanet, the referendum will show a huge amount of NO. In my opinion, the location is bad, and only a very small (tiny) amount of the population will ever use it. As for the track at polson, i heard it's not "regulation" size for major track and field events. I dont think there is enough room to make it big enough. I think (again imho) the city would benefit more from a new or improved recreation/pool complex.

deejay23 wrote:Judging by the votes on the news stories here at castanet, the referendum will show a huge amount of NO. .

it will be a yes vote, thanks to the vote counting machines used, same thing happened for the arena /theater vote.

I think (again imho) the city would benefit more from a new or improved recreation/pool complex.

Agree totally....went to the pool with 1yr old grandaughter through the holidays.....had never been before, and thought it was horrible....over crowded, one little place for younger kids/families and freezing!!! (not the water, but the air) Definitely needs updating and made more family friendly.

We went through a period of massive growth in the 1990's and early 2000's with almost no expansion of infrastructure. And now it's caught up with us. We need a new museum, art gallery, outdoor sports complex, and police station. And maybe another fire hall. And swimming pool. City hall is becoming scattered across many building. We concentrated so long on cutting taxes by emptying the forward financing funds, and not paving the streets and look where it's gotten us. We need everything, and still some taxpayers refuse to budge. They'll vote no on anything that costs money. Everytime. For no reason.

We've needed a proper sports complex for a very, very long time.

For so many years, us sporty types have lamented the lack of championship quality fields,that are suitably sized to accommodate MULTIPLE sports or activities, whether that be football, ultimate frisbee, track and field, community celebrations, concerts in the park, etc. I mean with a grandstand for the crowd, and appropriate facilities for catering or food service, washrooms, change rooms, storage, etc. This has been in our master parks plan for 10+years. One can only blame the vagaries of local politicians for lack of implementation.

It is a shame that the City of Vernon decided to cash in "their" insurance money from the burned down Polson Grandstand, of course there was no need to work together as part of the regional parks cooperative, let's use that money to build a (let's face it) completely inadequate "building" that doesn't even begin to address the loss of the grandstand! At least we know where to lay the blame for that decision, eh? For once, it's not the much maligned RDNO!

But Polson would not have been THE place for the sports complex either, field too small and parking too limited. When I first moved here, I thought the Army Camp was the perfect location, but then I dug into the details and realized it could never happen. We could have done something at Marshall but why on earth should we think regional and/or work together? The NIMBYs and BANANAs (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything) who scuttled the Aberdeen complex will surely be at work to scuttle this proposal too. If it does get voted down, all of us will suffer the consequences of this narrow-mindedness.

By the way Bob, your comment: "City hall is becoming scattered across many building." is not correct as of October 2012. City Hall is apparently now occupying fewer buildings since they've moved Building, Planning, Engineering and Bylaws into the old library building. Yep, that was pretty much a non-story, eh? Does anyone care to know how much the renos cost, or how they arrived at this decision?

Anyhoo, it's so refreshing to see our city leadership take an active role in supporting our museum, art gallery... Now I understand why our City's library rep was so keen on the library building a new home elsewhere.... so that city offices could swiftly take over the old building!

Ah what am I saying... our tourism committee can't even agree on minor funding to clean up the Kal lookout, what hope is there for a safe place to hang art or safeguard antiques?

Why did we build Spirit Square, again? For city employees to have a nice place to lunch outside?




As posted on the City of Vernon's website:

"Building, Planning, Engineering and Bylaws Staff Move Into Old Library Building"

We are asking for the public’s patience this week as Building, Planning, Engineering and Bylaws are moving into the old Library Building located at 3001 - 32nd Avenue beginning at 3:00 p.m. this Thursday, October 25. As such, there will be minimal service until noon, Monday October 29.

During the move, the public can still email [email protected] or call 250-550-3634 to leave a message for Engineering and Planning. Building Permits and Inspections will remain operational during this transition.

The departments that will be located in the old Library Building (renamed the Community Services Building) located at 3001 - 32nd Avenue will be:

• Information Services
• Engineering Services
• Building and Inspections
• Planning
• Economic Development
• Tourism
• Bylaws

The buildings that Staff are moving out of at 3:00 p.m. Thursday, October 25 are:

Development Services Building - 3303 30 Street
Corporate Services Building - 2900 32nd Avenue

City Hall will remain open during regular business hours during this time.

Before we spend millions for a full blown fancy sporting facility perhaps we should repair the crumbling infrastructure that has been neglected in favour of fancy new planters and bicycle lanes.
I have a hard time believing that track and field games could generate any revenue to the city. I bet no one knows where the last major track and field event was held, because no one cares. It’s not like the Olympics are coming to Vernon and Kamloops is the tournament capital already.
So the parking at Polson Park is insufficient for ultimate Frisbee competitions. Good one. Football games? We have a team in town? That must play at night?
We need a new Museum? How about take a digital picture of all the artifacts and post them on the cities web site then store them all away in a warehouse. Do we need an expensive building to go look at artifacts behind glass or can we view the same thing from behind the glass of our monitors?
Priorities people, just because we can’t see the rotten pipes below our crumbling roads doesn’t mean they are to be forgotten.
The city can’t afford to maintain what we have no use building more fluff and watch it rot.

http://www.castanet.net/business/

We are the only city in the entire Okanagan that does not have a lit sports field for football games or track. We have minor football and high school football in Vernon. I think the complex is a great idea but I am positive the old retirees of Vernon and Coldstream will vote it down like they did the Multiplex for so many years until it was finally approved.

Why would the majority of voters who don't have kids vote for a sports complex that they will not use. Enrollment in Vernon is the lowest it has been in 10 years at our schools because there are no jobs here and it is too expensive to live. Also, the facilities here for young people are brutal. I agree the pool/rec complex is the worst in the Okanagan. Unfortunately we don't have the population for a private company to build one like H2O in Kelowna.

I'm not sure what the solution is either. I don't want to spend millions on a new art/museum either. Maybe we can cut some of the bloat at city hall to help pay for these things. It seems that the increase in spending at city hall has far outpaced the population growth?

I would probably vote yes for the sport's complex and no for the art/museum but I have young kids so I would probably use the sport's complex more than the art gallery or museum. So I guess I am just as guilty voting for something because of self interest.

[quote="jasond_71"]We are the only city in the entire Okanagan that does not have a lit sports field for football games or track.

Really i havent noticed lit sporting fields in:
Armstrong
Spallumcheen
Coldstream
Lumby
Oyama
Carrs Landing
Okanagan Centre
West Kelowna
Peachland
Summerland
Naramata
Oliver
Osoyoos?

we dont need no stinking lighted football field or running track.redo polson park is all that,s in need of doing
City of Vernon and the way it is run sucks.they sepnd way too much money. these people think only one way
"we can raise taxes". Enough already, things are more than fine the way they are now.i,am sick of every person with the want to spend money on their personal agenda using the term its only gpoing to cost you the price of a cup of coffee "on average"

As far as I am concerned there are enough sports fields in Vernon, and too many sit idle for much of the year...And come on folks, Vernon should be about more than freaking sports fields and facilities. Let's fix up the museum and the arts centre so that people have more of an option when they visit our city. And while I am feeling grumpy, if a facility were to be built I am totally for using the land wasted on two weekends of horse races per year. IMO, that is prime sports facility property.

http://www.greatervernonrecreation.ca/pdf/park_features.pdf

According to the above link Vernon has: 37 small soccer fields; 13 full soccer; 7 baseball; 56 softball; 3 football/rubgy

Sure there are only three football/rugby fields, but with all the other fields it isn't unreasonable to think that there could be other options that would involve realigning existing fields.

Coffee freak give yer schmelly rear end a shake we only have 2 decent pitches in vermin bothe at mac park the fields at marshall are CRAP. You cannot hold a decent soccer tourney in this town or do proper training. Get yer rear end up to Macarthur island or down to the mission or parkinson. Really get rear rear end out to the pitch and knock a ball around someone time. The guys and girls are at indoor every Sat morning at 8 a.m. your presence is welcomed.