“I fought really hard for it,” said Ward 7 councillor Terina Nelson, who championed the project.
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One city councillor’s push to add an accessible elevator to the waterslides at Regina’s Wascana Pool may be finished after a last-ditch effort to find a cheaper solution proved unsuccessful.
Administration shared earlier this week that a request for proposals (RFP) — pushed by Coun. Terina Nelson (Ward 7) — has concluded with zero bids from contractors willing to take on the project.
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Nelson had successfully convinced city council this spring to set aside $175,000 from the Adapted Recreation Plan (ADP) as a base budget to be supplanted by public funding if a developer could be found.
The RFP was issued on May 17 and extended to July 17 at the request of some interested parties due to the “complexity of the project.”
However, none submitted before the RFP closed.
With an absence of interested developers, the elevator project can not move forward in 2024 or 2025, says city staff.
“The waterslide was something that I was very dear to, for a very long time, and I fought really hard for it,” said Nelson, expressing her disappointment in the outcome.
Feedback indicated the budget was too low and there was too much uncertainty around whether the project would move forward. Those concerns echoed warnings by city staff at the time of Nelson’s insistence for an RFP in April.
Administration now recommends city council reallocate the funding back to the recreation budget for 2024 and 2025.
If approved by city council next week, it will conclude months of campaigning from Nelson to get the elevator idea off the ground.
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City council initially approved using $500,000 to add an elevator in 2022, but changed direction when administration returned at budget time with a cost closer to $1 million.
Nelson then pushed for an open RFP process to poll for a lower cost. She teased that public donors had come to her willing to fund part of the project if the city would contribute a portion.
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Nelson ultimately conceded to let the $175,000 offer go, voting in line with the rest of executive committee Wednesday. But not before making another suggestion.
She asked to redirect $75,000 to the Regina Senior Citizens’ Centre (RSCC) as an emergency funding grant for pressing operational needs.
Lynda Schofield, board president of the RSCC, explained that the seniors’ program has been struggling to recover post-COVID. The board is working on long-term solutions but there’s a need for “short-term stability,” she said.
“I just want this money to be directed somewhere that is going to affect and help a lot of wonderful people, and that was my reasoning behind this,” said Nelson.
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“I think this is a win-win situation for the 1,035 members of the Seniors’ Centre to be able to breathe easier.”
Fees at the centre have been increased three times since 2021 and members are donating, Schofield said, but capacity to do more is limited as many seniors live on fixed incomes.
“We have some support,” Schofield said. “Please don’t think we are complacent in this; we’re doing as much as we can. We can’t ask our members to pay more for this.”
RSCC receives 30 per cent of its current funding from the city but the size of that grant has not changed in 20 years, said Schofield. She advised that RSCC will likely return at budget time to request a larger base grant to keep programs running.
“The Bank of Canada says the costs of good and services have gone up 69 per cent, and certainly our expenses reflect that,” she said. “What we safely need, year to year, would be that 69-per-cent increase.”
Nelson’s motion was ultimately scrapped, but administration promised to look at finding another source from which to provide emergency aid for RSCC by next week’s council meeting.
City council will consider final approval on Aug. 21.
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