Port Moody wants to study the feasibility of building new recreation and cultural facilities.
Today, Oct. 17, council's finance committee will consider a request from staff for $125,000 from the city's new initiatives reserve fund to pay for the study.
A report says the study would update a recommendation from Port Moody's parks and recreation master plan that was approved in 2016 to consider changing demands on recreational facilities since the COVID-19 pandemic, community demographics and needs as well as the state of the city’s current facilities.
"Understanding the environmental factors and state of current facilities will assist in identifying what new facilities may be needed and if changes could be made to existing facilities," said the report.
While the study won’t be able to estimate the cost of any new facilities, it will look at what sorts of new ones the city might need or which existing ones could be repurposed, where they could be located and their estimated operating costs and staffing requirements. The results would likely be ready for council review by later next year.
Meanwhile the city is forecasting an operating budget surplus of more than $570,000 by the end of the year.
According to a report by Port Moody's manager of financial reporting, Lorena Miat, revenues from licenses and permits issued by the city are $2,236,659 higher than projected, registrations for recreation and children’s programs have brought in $224,246 more than expected and miscellaneous revenues from leases and rentals as well as government grants have increased by $202,065.
Some of those have been offset, though, by higher salaries and benefits more than $74,000 higher than expected, mostly because of overtime costs for firefighters and labour costs in recreation services to cope with increased demand. As well, consulting and professional fees are $687,801 higher than forecast, primarily because of the Port Moody Police Department’s share of the investigation costs for a kidnapping that occurred in the city in April.
"Due to the technical expertise along with the human resourcing required to handle a file of this magnitude, the PMPD request Vancouver Police Department Major Crimes section to assist our local PMPD members," said the report of the "high risk investigation."
The city has also had to hire additional temporary staff and consultants to cover staff vacancies and the workload from increased development activity.
📣 SOUND OFF: What do you think about Port Moody's recreational facilities? What new facilities would you like to see? Share your thoughts by sending us a Letter to the Editor. Please be sure to include your full name and city of residence.
