Coquitlam’s intention of closing its curling facility at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex and transitioning the program to Port Moody appears to be moving quicker than initially planned.
Last November, council voted in favour of a report that called for amalgamating the two curling clubs in time for the 2018/’19 season.
But Coquitlam city staff, in their communications with the city of Port Moody, said they are now aiming to make the change as early as this fall.
“Although Coquitlam council authorized the transition to take place in 2018, as a result of recent staff discussions, I would like to confirm our intent to proceed towards transitioning to one club in Port Moody in September 2017,” said Raul Allueva, Coquitlam’s general manager of parks, recreation and culture services, in a letter to Ron Higo, PoMo’s GM of community services.
In the letter, Allueva added that the new timeline would be subject to Coquitlam council approval, along with a series of expenditures he said will support the transition.
Staff is proposing that Coquitlam commit to spending $100,000 to hire an executive director to manage the club amalgamation and $15,000 to provide a Curl BC ice technician to improve the quality of the rink in Port Moody. Another $135,000 in equipment, including curling stones ($100,000), ice shaver and spare blades ($17,000) and other assorted items would be given to Port Moody.
Earlene Graham, president of the Coquitlam Curling Association, said she was not informed about Coquitlam’s plans to move up the transition time to 2017.
“It is disappointing,” she told The Tri-City News on Thursday, adding “This is a rushed deal.”
The Port Moody Curling Club, Graham added, is not ready for the influx of new members and there is considerable work that needs to be done at the facility to improve the quality of ice.
She said she believes that Coquitlam council wants to move up the transition to 2017 to avoid having the controversial transition take place in the run up to the 2018 municipal election.
Coquitlam Coun. Craig Hodge, who chairs the sports advisory committee, said the city had initially intended to amalgamate the clubs in 2017 but, after the curlers wanted more time to make their case for keeping the club in Coquitlam last fall — a delay of two and a half months — staff said an extension to 2018 may be needed to ensure there was enough time for the transition to take place.
Still, Hodge acknowledged that moving the dates is not ideal.
“It is creating a lot of anxiety,” he said. “[The curling clubs] want to get on with planning for the fall and time is ticking. Their season is wrapping up in a couple of weeks and they would like to know what the plans are for next year.”
On Tuesday night, Moody council approved a recommendation directing staff to work with Coquitlam to expand curling in the PoMo rec complex ahead of the start of the season in September.
Hodge said with that approval and with assurances from Port Moody that it can accept the new curlers in 2017, Coquitlam can now move forward with formulating its transition plans.
A staff report outlining the amalgamation strategy is expected to come to Coquitlam council at a future meeting.
@gmckennaTC
