Capital project delays not right in fast-growing city like Surrey



Minor hockey players in Surrey often have to travel to other communities to practice and play hockey, because of a shortage of available ice in Surrey. Mayor Doug McCallum wants to delay building a new Cloverdale Arena, which would have two sheets of ice.


The new Surrey council is looking at delaying a number of capital projects, out of concern for the level of debt.
These include a new ice arena in Cloverdale, on the Cloverdale Fairgrounds. Clearing of the site has already taken place, but no construction has started. Also on the postponement list are a community centre and library for the Grandview Heights area and expansion of the Fleetwood Community Centre. Several other capital projects also face delay.
Mayor Doug McCallum made a lot of noise about $514 in capital debt last week. Yet the debt level is not that high. At present, it sits at $378 million. The delayed projects would add another $136 million in debt. That’s where the $514 million figure comes in.
Debt servicing costs are low, due to low interest rates. Surrey is going to keep growing. It is still on track to become B.C.’s largest city within the next 20 years.
The City of Surrey is now falling into the trap that has long ensnared the provincial government. Delay building much-needed projects in a fast-growing city out of fiscal concerns, and in doing so reduce the level of services available to Surrey residents. Construction of schools and hospitals has been delayed because of this approach, and the net effect is that Surrey residents are second-class citizens.
The delay of an ice arena hits particularly hard. Young people need to have meaningful activities to take part in, in order to keep them fit, active and out of reach of gangs. Surrey has more than its share of gang-related deaths, and one reason is that young people are attracted to a life of crime and violence because they are not involved in other activities.
The city has been building new recreation facilities and playing fields at a steady pace in the past decade. This is necessary. Surrey has a very large population of young people. They need some constructive outlets for their abundance of energy.
It makes far more sense to continue to build such projects than to constantly spend more on policing, whether it is the Surrey RCMP or a new Surrey police force.
McCallum isn't getting buy-in from three council members who were elected as part of his Safe Surrey Coalition. Councillors Brenda Locke, Steve Pettigrew and Jack Hundial all voted against the capital budget presented to a finance meeting on Tuesday, with both Pettigrew and Locke saying the ice arena should go ahead. The lone Surrey First candidate to win a council seat, Coun. Linda Annis, also voted against the capital budget presented by staff.
Council will again vote on the budget on Monday. If one more Safe Surrey Coalition councillor decides to vote "no," there is a chance the ice arena, at least, could go ahead.
McCallum said that the new ice arena in Bridgeview, near Scott Road SkyTrain station, will help make up for the lack of ice - but that isn't true. That arena is being built to replace the North Surrey Recreation Centre, Surrey's oldest public ice arena, which sits on prime real estate across from Central City Mall and adjacent to the Surrey Central SkyTrain station.
It is notable that the three major projects being delayed are in areas of the city with large and growing populations. Grandview is already affected by a lack of funding for new schools. The delay in building a new high school there means no high school sports are possible there. Now the fast-growing South Surrey neighbourhood will not have a community centre and library.
The existing Cloverdale Arena, built almost a half-century ago, serves hockey, skating and lacrosse participants from a wide area, including the fast-growing Clayton community. Although Clayton has been developing rapidly for close to 20 years, it is only within the last year that the city has actually invested in some recreation infrastructure in the area – a new community centre, still under construction.
Fleetwood is also a fast-growing area. While the community centre has been expanded since first opening, another expansion makes sense. Population density in the area will increase, as a direct result of the planned SkyTrain line along Fraser Highway.
Taxpayers appreciate council being prudent with tax dollars, and a number of budget initiatives under consideration by the council finance committee make sense. However, delaying recreation and community projects which keep pace with the population increase is a penny-wise and pound-foolish approach to building a city.

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