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Voters reject $20M facilities referendum

UPDATED SUNDAY, FEB. 26, 7:25 A.M. Voters have overwhelmingly rejected the District of Squamish's proposal to borrow $20 million to build a host of community amenities and recreation facilities in a referendum held today. A total of 2,491 voters (73.

UPDATED SUNDAY, FEB. 26, 7:25 A.M.

Voters have overwhelmingly rejected the District of Squamish's proposal to borrow $20 million to build a host of community amenities and recreation facilities in a referendum held today.

A total of 2,491 voters (73.6%) cast "no" ballots to the Public Amenity and Recreational Facilities Loan Authorization Bylaw, to only 888 "yes" votes (26.2%). A total of seven ballots were spoiled or rejected.

If approved, council would have been authorized to borrow up to $20,350,000 to build public amenities and recreational facilities in Squamish.

The bylaw did not specify which facilities would be built or how much each would cost, but Mayor Ian Sutherland, who proposed the bylaw, indicated that the projects would include a second sheet of ice, a seniors' centre, an arts centre, a public use building downtown and a trail network linking neighbourhoods within Squamish.

Sutherland was not available for comment tonight. Coun. Corinne Lonsdale, the only member of council to speak out against the bylaw, was on vacation and unavailable to comment.

More than 33 per cent of all eligible voters cast ballots -- considerably higher than previous referendums and byelections but lower than the more than 60 per cent who voted in the last general election.

See Friday's edition of The Chief for full coverage, including reactions from supporters and opponents of the bylaw and a look to what comes next.

PRELIMINARY VOTE FIGURES:

No votes: 2,491

Yes votes: 888

Total ballots cast: 3,386

7 ballots were spoiled

Advance vote:

No votes: 333

Yes votes: 120

Special vote:

No votes: 58

Yes votes: 10

Voting date:

No votes: 2,100

Yes votes: 758

Total number of eligible voters: 10,027VOTER TURNOUT: 33.8%

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