Greg East and Skip Martin attended last night’s Flin Flon City Council meeting with questions about covering the cost of a new pool.  They noted the closure of Hudbay next year and were concerned about what will happen to the Company’s grant in lieu of taxes which is a big part of the city tax base at 49 percent of total revenue.  They also noted a reduction in the company work force who are Flin Flon taxpayers so they are concerned with the reduction in taxpayers and the grant in lieu of taxes how the remaining taxpayers can be expected to cover the local share of the pool while still maintaining a basic level of services in the community.  The federal government agreed to provide 3.5 million and the province 2.9 million leaving the city to cover 2.3 million.

East noted while being in favor of the pool it must be shown that taxpayers with the knowledge of the pertinent facts still want to proceed with Martin adding a new survey should go out after the budget is adjusted as a result of the smaller grant in lieu with accurate cost projections for the pool and operations.  When asked why the rush Mayor Huntley said it is not a rush as they have been lobbying for the past 15 years because the old pool was past its life and now the grant money has finally come.