KENILWORTH – Wellington North council has reaffirmed its plan to scrap the Mount Forest pool and build a new one in a new location, despite community objections to the plan.
“I’ve seen no new information presented that would give me any reason to believe that repairing the old pool to a standard that would meet today’s requirements would be anywhere close to being competitive with constructing a new pool,” Mayor Andy Lennox said at the Aug.12 council meeting.
Lennox, one of only three council members present for the meeting, opened the discussion about a staff report on the Lion Roy Grant Community Pool by thanking township staff for pulling together background information.
“It’s been ongoing for a long period of time,” he said of the pool issue.
The report includes a list of council meetings at which the pool was discussed, dating back to November 2007, as well as a list of news articles that mention the pool dating back even further.
It highlights a report from September 2016 by Triton Engineering that provided some options and associated costs for repairing or replacing the aging pool.
At that time, the company estimated that repairing and upgrading the existing pool would cost $1.28 million, whereas a new facility in a new location would cost between $1.5 million and $2 million.
Council has since discovered the cost of the new build is expected to be much higher – $5.5 million is the most recent estimate – and some residents have come forward to ask council to revisit the decision to build a new pool.
Mount Forest resident Harry McInnis spoke as a delegation at the Aug. 12 meeting.
He began by acknowledging his effort was likely in vain, but said, “I would be remiss if I did not take the opportunity to implore this council to reconsider their position regarding the Lion Roy Grant Community Pool.”
McInnis’ wife started an online petition in July in an effort to compel council to pause its plans to decommission the pool, and to request a detailed estimate of repair costs and share that information with the public.
At the time of the meeting, McInnis said the petition had garnered 629 signatures from residents “who agree that we need to make every effort to fix what we have.”
He pointed out this is the third summer the pool has been closed, but fundraising for the new pool has come nowhere near the goal required to start building.
“How many do you think is a reasonable number of years for us to wait?” McInnis asked.
Councillor Penny Renken said she understands the concerns, but she pointed out other reasons for closing the existing pool, beyond cost, including parking and accessibility issues.
“Everything has to be accessible,” she said.
Council moved on to the next delegation on an unrelated matter, but returned to the pool discussion later in the meeting.
At that time, Lennox reiterated the cost to fix the pool is likely similar to the cost to build new.
“Discussion of fixing the pool for a couple of hundred thousand dollars is completely unrealistic given the state of the pool,” he said.
Councillor Steve McCabe said he has based his votes on information presented to council over the years, which is publicly available online, and was highlighted in the staff report.
“I don’t like throwing good money after bad ideas,” McCabe said.
“The pool is 70 years old. I don’t think pools are usually built to last that long . . . It’s time for something different.”
Lennox proposed a motion affirming the decision to proceed with a new swimming pool and the decommissioning of the Lion Roy Grant swimming pool.
But at that point, McCabe objected, saying, “I don’t know if a new pool is what we really need.”
He expressed a desire to keep open the discussion about a new pool.
Lennox said council’s approval of the plan for a new pool was linked with fundraising for the pool.
He tabled his original motion, that council “proceed with a new swimming pool, and further proceed with the decommissioning of the Lion Roy Grant pool.”
