Hope – The District of Hope is informing residents that it is transferring ownership of the Dan Sharrers Aquatic Centre to the Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD). The Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) already oversees the operations of the entire Recreation Centre and already owns the Ice Rink, and Conference Centre.
Recreation centres with indoor pools and other facilities are naturally expensive to build and maintain. Therefore, to improve and gain efficiencies in providing for and operating the Centre, a proposal was made to harmonize ownership and operations. This proposal was duly considered and approved by both District Council and the FVRD Board of Directors.
As part of this new ownership-operating model, an updated cost-sharing model was devised to ensure fairness in financial contributions. This can be changed in
future to reflect new realities. The District of Hope will be expected to contribute a slightly increased portion of funding, reflecting its greater population and property values versus FVRD Area B.
Furthermore, the District of Hope has agreed to transfer a portion of its reserves to support future infrastructure improvements (which it would have spent anyway) in upgrading the facility. Additionally, the FVRD Board has allocated additional funds to further improve the facility. This new service model will allow for improving the facility’s long-term capital management and maintenance via the Region’s engineering resources and access to additional grant opportunities
