Council approved a task force to develop a long-term plan for the Sam Ketcham Memorial Pool, Tuesday night.
The task force option must still be approved by the Cariboo Regional District board.
If approved it will consist of Coun. Surinderpal Rathor — who was appointed Tuesday — a CRD director and senior staff from both municipal governments along with an “industry expert.” The group will analyze community need and develop options for further consideration by the City/CRD joint committee.
“This is the best time to start,” Rathor said. “It’s a long process; we’re at the beginning.”
Mayor Kerry Cook added the task force has been created to “develop a framework for the planning process.”
According to a City report, the task force will consider questions such as current pool size and configuration, whether the facility is appropriate to accommodate current demand and if other configurations of services offered in the existing pool would be more suitable and affordable.
There would further be an examination of four identified options: whether the pool can be replaced in its current location with minimal changes to the current configuration; whether the pool can be fixed in its current location and should additional leisure water be added; whether a new pool be built in another location adjacent to the CMRC allowing the old pool to be kept open during construction or whether a stand-alone or new pool is an option.
The CMRC facility is owned by the Cariboo Regional District and operated by the City.