CENTRE WELLINGTON – After over an hour of debate, Centre Wellington council agreed to hire ATA Architects Inc. to study and design a new multi-use surface for Bissell Park.
The cost is estimated at over $89 thousand dollars. And that’s just the study and designs.
John Scott of Green Lanes, an active transportation group, was the first delegation of the night. He told council he’d researched what other municipalities have spent on outdoor ice surfaces, including Halton Hills spending $45,000 just on yearly energy costs, and urged the council to put that money to better use.
“Now you gotta remember, I’m on a working group, and we’re given $40,000 to dish out to community groups that do great stuff,” said Scott. “And when I compare that number for the energy use, and the $40,000 we have to share for all the great groups, it just sorta blows my mind a little bit.”
Back in 2018, a volunteer group applied for and received nearly $400, 000 from the Jack MacDonald fund and additional fundraising to replace the existing surface but ultimately gave control of the project to the Township.
Tom Keating, a member of the Elora Rockers and Elora Lions Club, was a member of that initial group. He told council the project could be done in phases.
“We’re here, looking for the opportunity to present some options back to council and say ‘this are the options that have come forward’ with some costing options pegged to those numbers,” said Keating.
Council was especially stuck on the fact the four options in the request for proposal all included expensive refrigeration.
Councillor Bronwynne Wilton expressed concerns that the project went from purchasing a ready-to-install surface, to requiring studies and designs.
“I am concerned about the extra step in the process and how much money we are taking out of the Jack MacDonald fund for studies,” said Wilton. “I believe the intent of [the fund] was for kids and families to enjoy their time pretty quickly with lower scale, grassroots type projects.”
Pat Newson, managing director of community services, explained to council why all the options included refrigeration, saying it’s more cost effective to install the refrigeration during the initial construction phase.
“If climate change is telling us that refrigerated pads are the only thing that is going to operate in the future, then we want to make sure we have those lines there, that we have an opportunity to refrigerate this location if that’s what it takes,” argued Pat Newson, managing director of community services.
The report on the costs for the four options under consideration for the Bissell Park is expected back at council in August.
