From The Daily Graphic

The Rural Municipality of Portage la Prairie has gone back to square one for the PCU Centre.

“We just authorized the CAO (chief executive officer Daryl Hrehirchuk) to draft a general borrowing bylaw,” Reeve Toby Trimble said in an interview after RM council’s regular meeting.

The bylaw, once it’s drafted, will seek to borrow up to $6.2 million to meet the RM’s $8-million commitment to the multiplex.

Coun. Bill Alford was the lone vote against the motion.

“I’m just trying to represent my ratepayers,” Alford stated. “And most people who have come forward are the naysayers.”

When drafted, the bylaw will need to pass first reading from RM council before it goes to the Manitoba Municipal Board for approval. If approved there, it will come back to council for the second and final readings.

Unlike the last time the RM sought to borrow money for the multiplex, under a local improvement plan, a general borrowing bylaw doesn’t require any public hearings.

Currently, the RM has contributed $1.5 million to the currently-under-construction project from its reserve funds. That money went toward concrete pilings and foundation costs.

Now that the reserve funds have been spent, Trimble noted, the RM will have to pull back from the project until it can procure the remainder of its commitment via the general borrowing bylaw.

It will probably take a few months for the bylaw to be drawn up, pass first reading, get approval from the Municipal Board and get final approval from council, the Reeve added.