Kelowna Daily Courier Staff 2010-05-05
An advance poll will be held today in Peachland as residents begin to pass judgment on a controversial plan to build a curling rink. The issue is whether the town of 5,000 should borrow $1.3 million to put toward the project, which has already received funding commitments of $2.7 million from the provincial and federal governments. “There‘s a very high level of interest in this referendum, ” Mayor Keith Fielding said Tuesday. “Unfortunately, it‘s kind of become a very polarizing issue, with some adamantly opposed and others very enthusiastic in their support.” Those who endorse the project say it represents good value for the town and will provide a much-needed recreational facility at minimal cost to residents. With so much money coming from Victoria and Ottawa, the annual tax increase to the average homeowner is pegged at just under $35. “The grants we‘ve received can‘t be put toward any other use,” Fielding said. “If the referendum is defeated, we lose all that money.”
Still, critics say the project is an extravagance that would cater to a few hundred avid curlers. And they say claims the building would be available for other uses five months of the year are disingenuous. “The last time I looked, Peachland already has a community centre,” town resident J.D. Ingram wrote in a letter to the editor. “Where is the need or justification for another structure to duplicate what can already be done so well at the community centre?” Today‘s advance poll at the community centre runs from 8 a.m to 8 p.m. General voting day is May 15.
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