City of Langford councillors have said they need more time before answering the $35 million question: should they buy the Westhills YW/YMCA Langford Aquatic Centre?
At a meeting on Monday (Dec. 2), councillors voted in favour of postponing the decision until Dec.16, just one day before Westhills' offer to sell to the municipality expires.
"I'd be prepared to sleep on it for a little bit more," said Coun. Colby Harder, who cited a keen public interest in the topic as one of the reasons why the city needed more breathing space.
"I'm not quite ready to make that decision, I think the public still has lots of thoughts on this," added Coun. Keith Yacucha.
Reluctantly supportive of the motion to postpone, Coun. Lillian Szpak said she felt the city had already received "ample" information and had "done its homework" on the proposal.
“We’ve had the opportunity to educate our taxpayers on the necessity of this,” said Szpak. “As well as why we need to subsidize recreation in general.”
Consultants hired by the city have said purchasing the building could bring savings of $10.2 million over the next 17 years, the remainder of the YW/YMCA’s service agreement.
The city has until Dec. 17 to make a decision before Westhills withdraws its offer to sell.
The current building owners have told the city they cannot guarantee “the price and other terms contained in the current offer” will remain the same in the future.
“If the city decides not to purchase or is unable to make a decision prior to the offer expiration date, we will need to explore other options for the facility,” said Ryan McKenzie, Westhills manager, in a letter to the city dated Nov. 27.
McKenzie’s letter also notes the recreation centre is “worth more than the price in the offer to sell,” explaining the building is currently insured for $45 million, which excludes the value of the land under the building and the parking lot included in the potential sale.
Yet again there was a mixed-bag of comments from Langford residents at the Dec. 2 meeting, with over an hour of public participation on the subject.
Echoing comments made at previous meetings, residents urged councillors to not rush into purchasing the building, with some again calling for a referendum on the decision.
“Why does it seem like a gun is being held to the heads of Langford taxpayers,” said Mike Wignell.
Among the calls for the city to give Westhills’ offer the thumbs down, a handful of residents encouraged councillors to green light the purchase, explaining they feel it “makes sense” for Langford to own the valuable community asset.
Adding his opinion to the ongoing debate was Harold Bloomenthal, president of Juan de Fuca Minor Hockey, who said he was nervous the $35 million price tag for the aquatic centre would leave the city with no money to support other sporting initiatives.
According to Bloomenthal, an increase in the number of kids wanting to play sports and a lack of available facilities has left local youth sports groups in “serious trouble.”
“I just don’t want you to leave the kids behind,” said Bloomenthal, who urged the city to be cautious with its decision-making.
“We need to work together so everybody gets what they need,” he added, offering to sit down with councillors to explain the plight of youth sports groups, which represents “thousands of kids” on the West Shore.
For more information about the proposal to purchase the Westhills YW/YMCA Langford Aquatic Centre, visit the website: https://letschatlangford.ca/YMCA.
