Mayor defends SOEC costs

By Wolf Depner - Penticton Western News - February 06, 2008

Mayor Jake Kimberley said the city has nothing to hide about the financial state of the South Okanagan Event Centre as he lashed out against published claims that the cost of the facility now exceeds $100 million. “Some of these accusations are defamatory to the people involved,” said Kimberley, responding to a letter from Penticton resident Elvena Slump published in local media. Documents released by the city Monday peg the total cost of the project at $78.4 million — up almost one million from the previous cost after council voted unanimously to include several new features. When the Penticton Western News contacted Slump, she refused to disclose the identity of the source she mentioned in her letter, despite appeals that such a revelation would ensure her own and the media’s credibility in covering this issue. She also confirmed that she could not independently confirm the claims of the source. “I believe the veracity of the person who told it to me,” she said.The letter also claims that the city has “literally frozen out” the public over the SOEC.

Not so, said Kimberley. “I take personal exception to that,” he said. All financial documents around the SOEC are available to the public, said Kimberley. When council announced the new price tag Monday, reporters received a list of the items added to the facility. Almost half of the announced improvements — funding enhancements, as the city calls them — will be made out of wood purchased from a Summerland company. Kimberley defended the additions. “I guess we could (build) a second-rate facility,” he said when asked about how the public might react to the cost increase. With the additional expenses, the total cost of the facility will rise to $78.4 million, a figure that also includes the cost of off-site improvements and the so-called wellness centre, which the city hopes to lease to health care partners. Kimberley stressed that the additional expenses will not require the city to raise more revenues through property taxes . Funding will come from casino money already going towards the facility, he said.

Kimberley said Premier Gordon Campbell “insisted” that the facility include a prominent wood component, giving the city no other choice than to revise the facility’s design and price tag. City administrator Leo den Boer said original designs include a wood component to meet provincial expectations to showcase the provincial lumber industry, but this component “virtually disappeared” during revisions to bring down costs. When asked about why the province won’t pay for the improvements on which it insists, den Boer said Victoria has already made a sizable contribution towards the facility. Other major improvements include better light fixtures and black-out shades ($250,000) and a fibre-optics information system ($131,177). Director of corporate services Jack Kler said the improvements add value to the facility.“We are not just building a hockey arena,” he said He added staff looked at these improvements extensively before bringing them forward. “We want a facility that is functional and aesthetically pleasing,” he said.More than $640,000 in other improvements were either not included or deferred until next year.