Prince George residents say yes to new fire hall, pool in referendum

Voters in Prince George have approved a $50 million plan to build a new downtown pool and fire hall.

The results come after months of public meetings and consultations in which Mayor Lyn Hall offered to visit people's homes in order to convince them of the need for the projects.

Council unanimously endorsed plans to borrow the funds, which willsee the city apply for the money from the Municipal Finance Authority to be repaid over up to twenty years.

• What you need to know about referendums for a new pool and fire hall in Prince George

The cost for the fire hall to taxpayers is estimated at $8.45 per $100,000 of assessed property value per year, and the cost of the swimming pool is estimated at $19.71 per $100,000 of assessed value per year.

City staff said the long-term costs of repairing and maintaining each building exceeds the cost of new facilities.

For the fire hall, 6520 people or82.70 per cent of those who cast a ballotvoted in favour of the project while1355 or 17.21 per cent of voters voted no.

As for the pool,4923 or 62.48 per cent voted in favour, while2956 or 37.52 per cent voted against it.

Full results from the city can be found here.

Now that both planshave taxpayer approval, council must approve a bylaw or bylawsto borrow the funds. Preliminary work on the replacement project is expected to begin in 2018 with major construction to get undeway by 2019.

Hall will joinCBC'sDaybreak NorthOct.30 at 7:10 a.m. PT for a live discussion of the results and next steps.