All four member municipalities of the Westlock Foundation have approved the foundation’s request for $3 million in loans to cover cost overruns associated with the new Pembina Lodge expansion.
Speaking after a special meeting Aug. 31 at which the Town of Westlock approved the foundation’s request, board chair David Truckey confirmed that the M.D. of Lesser Slave River No. 124 had also expressed its approval.
With the county’s full approval issued at the Aug. 28 meeting, and the Village of Clyde’s approval given on Aug. 21, the foundation can now apply to Servus Credit Union for $1 million to cover an operating deficit and $2 million for a capital deficit.
The county had previously given its consent to apply for the $1 million loan at its July 31 meeting.
The approval to apply for the loans did not come easily, as county councillors added a few conditions to their approval.
Reeve Charles Navratil explained the conditions are that any GST money the foundation gets back is applied directly to repaying the $2 million loan. In addition, during the building process, the province changed its building standards, resulting in the project costs increasing. Navratil said the county also wants any money the foundation receives from the government as compensation to be applied to the loan.
“We want to see that loan get paid down as soon as possible,” he said.
During the county’s discussion about approving the loan, councillors expressed concern over the fact residents have not yet moved into the expansion due to ongoing delays, and that there does not seem to be a crush of people trying to move in.
“It’s disappointing when there’s 128 people on the waiting list and right now there’s only 23 (that are ready to go in right now),” Navratil said. “That was the big push to get it built because there was this big waiting list and now that it’s built it doesn’t seem like people are running to the door to sign up to come in.”
At the Aug. 21 Clyde council meeting, mayor Wayne Wilcox explained part of the delay in getting residents moved in was the result of the elevator shafts not being wired properly.
“They found they ran the power lines and control lines up one shaft of the elevator instead of doing it up both,” he said. “We couldn’t get the permit for occupancy, because each elevator has to be separate from the other one, so if there’s a fire or a problem you can always use the other elevator.”
While Wilcox said that delay didn’t cost the foundation any extra money as it was the contractor’s error, it was still another interruption in getting the expansion open.
While Coun. Doug Nyal ultimately moved approving the loan request, he was at a loss to understand precisely why the foundation needs $3 million in extra funding.
“You’re telling me the units aren’t occupied, but we need $1 million in staff to take care of the units that aren’t occupied?” he asked. “That doesn’t really wash.”
He also expressed incredulity at the lack of information flowing from the foundation through Wilcox.
“What’s disappointing like this is to get a request like this from them with no information to back up the request,” he said. “We’ve got you sitting here telling us it’s in legal so you can’t tell us what’s going on, but you’re asking us to support the letter.”
Navratil also said the county is unhappy with its current position on the board, and is working to try to acquire more representation.
“We’re the biggest payer into the board, so we figured we should have one extra person on the board,” he said.
Currently the county has two seats at the table, and would like to see that increased to three.
The county would also like to determine whether that third member could be a member-at-large, as opposed to an elected representative. The reason is so that there can be continuity on the board in the event the elected representatives are voted out of office like in 2010.
“At the last election, there was only David (Truckey) left from the town and from the county and the Village of Clyde that had been there the previous three years,” Navratil said.
Having a member-at-large would mean if there was another case of such turnover, there would be someone remaining who knows the history of the association, he said.
In addition, with the future of Clyde up in the air, Navratil said the easiest way to give the county its third member would be to roll Clyde’s representative over to the county.
However, if Clyde is dissolved after the county gets its third member, he said that member would simply cease to exist and the county would not gain a fourth member.
Navratil said any additional representation is only speculation at the moment, as such a change would need to be approved by the remaining members of the board.
• With files from Doug Neuman.
