Tuesday November 12, 2013 (Vol. 38 No. 91 91) 1)
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Healthy debate: Two women add their voice to the discussion of Lyme disease, sharing their stories in the hopes of helping others. i see page 11
2014 budget estimated at $763 million
Surrey tax bills to rise more than $100 Kevin Diakiw Black Press
Surrey is planning a hike in taxes and utilities next year of more than $100. The city is gearing up to consider its 2014 budget – a document that now includes an increase of $113 to owners of an average home with an estimated value of $643,600. As outlined last year in its five-
year plan, Surrey is considering a 2.9-per-cent property-tax hike ($44.40), along with a one-per-cent road levy ($15.31), for a total tax increase of $59.71. It will bring the property taxes on the average home to $1,590. In addition, homeowners will be hit with a host of utility increases, including water ($19.39); sewer ($19.26); a parcel tax for pipe
repair, pumping stations, etc. ($13); and an increase in garbage hauling of $2 – for a total utility hike of $53.62. The total cost of utilities on the average home will be $1,170. The total new cost of taxes and utilities on the average Surrey home valued at $643,600 will be $2,760 – or, if the home has a secondary suite, $3,170.
Extra operating costs expected next year include 12 additional RCMP members, with five more municipal-support workers. There will be no new hires for firefighting, bylaw enforcement, or animal control. Labour-contract increases next year are expected to amount to $9 million, while third-party contracts are expected to jump $2.41 million.
Surrey is planning to budget $1 million for new public facilities next year, add $1.1 million worth of new programs, and increase contributions to capital and technology replacement by $1.5 million. The $763-million budget will be discussed by the city’s finance committee, which includes all of council, on Nov. 18.
Hughes Condon Marler Architects graphics
Renderings released last month show interior and exterior plans for the new Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre.
Grandview Heights project featured in architects’ book
Aquatics centre envisioned as ‘community hub’ Nick Greenizan Staff Reporter
Armed with the philosophy that a pool can be more than just a pool, the architects behind the new Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre set out to design a building that is more “community living room” than just a place to swim laps. “When we design these types of places, we think of them not just as pools, but com-
munity hubs, where people go to (socialize),” said Darryl Condon, managing principal at Hughes Condon Marler Architects, which was tasked with designing the Grandview project. Plans for the new aquatic centre – to be built on the northeast corner of 24 Avenue and 168 Street in South Surrey – were announced in 2011, and the specific design plans were made public last month. The centre will include among its amenities a 50-m
lap pool, a leisure pool and dive tower, and original estimates have pegged the cost of the project at $51.9 million. Last summer, the land was cleared at the site, and construction is now underway. The project has not been without detractors, however. When the plan for a new aquatic centre was announced by the city in 2011, various user groups worried the 50-m lap pool would not have enough space to host large
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competitive meets. Those concerns were not alleviated when a final plan was announced last year, though city officials have insisted the facility – part of the Build Surrey program – is in fact suitable for the needs of the area. “There is no question in my mind that building two 50-metre pools is the right thing to do,” Surrey Coun. Tom Gill told Peace Arch News in March 2012. i see page 4