The cost of swimming at the Flin Flon Aqua Centre has spurred a mother and son to raise the issue with Creighton town council.
At town council’s Wednesday, May 8 meeting, Creighton residents Phyllis and Jon Kozak brought forward a petition signed by 100 locals asking council to consider a number of suggestions surrounding the Aqua Centre.
Phyllis Kozak said user fees at the pool are the central concern for many Creightonites, who pay significantly more to swim than do residents of Flin Flon.
A fee schedule that differentiates between Flin Flon residents and non-residents has been in effect since Sept. 1, 2013.
When Flin Flon city council voted to enact the non-resident fees in July 2013, then-mayor George Fontaine said the Flin Flon council’s preference would be a funding deal with neighbouring communities that would help pay for the Aqua Centre and other Flin Flon-based public facilities that are used regionally.
“But in the meantime we’re feeling that it’s come to the time where we have to make a point,” he said, “that just says, ‘Look, we’re paying the bills for too many people and we need to get some income from somewhere else.’”
While Flin Flon residents pay for Flin Flon recreation services, including the Aqua Centre, through municipal taxes, residents of neighbouring communities, including Creighton, do not have the option to do so.
For non-resident swimmers, the cost disparity can add up quickly: daily admission rates for adults are $5.50 for Flin Flon residents and $7.75 for non-residents; an annual family pass costs residents $402.50 while non-residents pay $571.50.
“It’s hard on low-income families,” said Phyllis Kozak.
She said the cost of swimming lessons can be prohibitive for some households, especially those with multiple children.
This, combined with the cancellation of a swimming program for Creighton Community School students, are cause for safety concerns in an area surrounded by lakes, she said.
Jon Kozak said he wanted to bring up the issue of Aqua Centre fees in response to a public request from Creighton town council for ideas regarding the use of the Community Well-being Fund.
The fund was established after the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) gave Creighton $650,000 in recognition of the town’s participation in a process to pinpoint a storage site for Canada’s nuclear waste. The fund now contains $550,000.
When asked about council’s reaction to the Aqua Centre petition, Creighton mayor Bruce Fidler said town aldermen would be clarifying the requests made by the delegation, and investigating the issues raised, before responding.
Fidler said the petition was the first official request received from residents on the subject of Aqua Centre fees.
Petition
The text of the petition signed by 100 Creighton residents:
In a Creighton Town Council newsletter last fall, it was stated that there is some money [from Nuclear Waste Management Organization], and if residents wanted to suggest ways it may be spent, they could.
We, the undersigned Creighton residents, would like to suggest that residents either get help to pay their pool fees [at the Flin Flon Aqua Centre] or [have the] Town Of Creighton give a mass lump sum donation to the Flin Flon Aqua Centre Refurbishment and Expansion Committee. This would be in [the] hope that [the] City of Flin Flon would look at Town of Creighton user fees for the Aqua Centre and do away with them!
Creighton residents pay $571.50 for a yearly family pass. This same pass costs $402.50 for Flin Flon residents. That is a $169.00 difference! On top of that, Creighton residents also pay more to put their children in swimming lessons and Creighton [Community] School has not continued their grade 4, 5 and 6 swim program this last year.
We don’t have these facilities in Creighton and feel there are many lakes around our area. We feel recreation, fitness and water safety are important considerations.
