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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLakeshore Advance, 2013-02-13, Page 19�a, Community Master Plan calls for refurbishing. existingapool���. 19 CONTINUED FROM > PAGE 1 this 49 -year old pool- but rather a four season aquatic facility. In November 2009 dmA Planning & Management Services presented the Community Master Plan to this council. The Master Plan included an assessment of future facility and parkland needs over the next ten years. These needs were driven by the current capacity and use of facil- ities, public input, activity participa- tion and facility trends, and the changing socio -demographic char- acteristics of the community. Dur- ing the period of the Master Plan, a stable population is anticipated, Ofore, with the exception of a utdoor facility needs that respond to growth activities, the focus of the needs assessment is on improving and redeveloping what currently exists and making better use of existing facilities. South Huron CAO Roy Hardy says, "With respect to the Master Plan, we have been working on its recommendations since it was adopted; the largest projects suc- cessfully completed to date have been the Crediton Sportsplex, devel- oping long term agreements for Port Blake Park and the Warner Field in Exeter. These next two projects combined will have the largest scope of all the projects outlined in the Master Plan:' The Master Plan recommenda- tions stated the existing arenas would serve the Municipality over the next ten years. "Beyond this timeframe, arena needs should be reassessed. Redevelopment of the Exeter Arena change rooms and washrooms should be the priority for the short term. The Exeter Out- door Pool should be upgraded and unproved to continue to meet the community's aquatic needs over the life of this plan. A parks master plan sh Ad be prepared and a range of i>/ .wements identified for the site iat she site amenities. Considera- tion should be given to adding a major splash pad/ water play fea- ture to the pool, an improved and expanded washroom/change mon) facility, in addition to other site iunenities and improvements. CONSULTATION ACTIVITY SUMMARY Techniques were employed to ensure a broad range of community and stakeholder input to the plan- ning process. The municipality did an on-line community survey involving 174 households, a detailed survey of and meeting with sport, recreation and culture facility user groups, with 23 responding groups, submissions and briefs from com- munity and volunteer organiza- tions, interviews with key municipal staff and other major service part- ners; focus groups with seniors, youth, service clubs, community volunteers, health and social service providers, and hall hoard representatives as well as a commu- nity forum. It was often suggested in this communication that the plan should focus on greater or expanded use of existing facilities. This was both under-utilized facilities (e.g., the community halls) and possible upgrades to existing facilities that would expand use (e.g., a refur- bished outdoor pool, expanded soc- cer fields). Most participants felt that South Huron's emphasis in the short terra should be on improving and upgrading existing resources, rather than providing new facilities. SH -RALLY The SH -RALLY group came together in response to learning of the South Huron council's decision to refurbish two already aging facili- ties, the outdoor pool at Mac - Naughton Park and the South Huron Recreation Centre Arena. The concern was that moving for- ward with a retrofit before complet- ing a full feasibility analysis would not be in the best interest of our community and would impact the community's funding for recreation, arts and leisure in the future. k is this group's belief that the fea- sibility analysis cannot move ahead until further community input is received. They needed to find out if there is any support from the com- munity for improving the recrea- tion, arts and leisure facilities, pro- grams and services in South I luron. It was their hopes that if there were support, it would be important to find out where the support lies so the feedback could be conveyed to council for consideration. This group put together a com- munity input survey for the resi- dents of South Huron and sur- rounding areas. The topic for this survey was for the future of recrea- tion, arts and leisure programs, serv- ices and facilities in South l Iuron. The group's focus was to be "pro- gressive on community matters with the purpose to attract and retain residents and businesses to our community which would ena- ble the community to remain vibrant, viable and grow." The survey went out with more than 9(X) responses. But, the people of the western part of the munici- pality, Oakwood and Grand Cove Estates said they did not get the sur- vey until November 20, giving them only 10 days to check it ()tit- where the people in other parts of the municipality had 40 days to peruse the document. ( Cove resident Cam'laylor was permitted to speak at the enol of last week's meeting and told the forum he takes issue with their (SI !- Rally's) assumption that the opinion of 640 (rand Cove residents and 125 Oakwood residents would not have any impact on the survey results. (A response from this group explained to Taylor that the data collected from them was so small it would not impact the overall man- date and results.)'llrylor argued that the reason it was so small was because the residents did not have the survey. A member told the Lake- shore Advance the councilor for the ward; Bill Francis had the informa- tion to forward to his residents, in July. Francis is in Florida until March but did e-mail that, "I didn't have the survey form from the SF i -Rally and I don't recall saying that 1 would pass anything on to the people in (rand Cove. I never even attended any of their meetings because i wasn't even on that committee. The SII -Rally never gave me anything and 1 also never met any one from the committee. Never saw anyone from that committee until we had the committee of the whole meeting Monday Jan 28 2013 of which some where there at that meeting and I wasn't introduced to any of them" Taylor told the forum at last week's meeting, "i take issue that the survey appeared in the Exeter paper and not the Lakeshore Advance. i take issue that no copies were supplied to the (rand Cove office. I wonder if your group had any real interest in our opinion or was the survey just for the residents of Exeter," Taylor asked. The e-mail from SII -Rally explained that Taylor could come to the February 5th meeting to provide the collective views of Grand Cove to the archi- tects, communicating his views at that time. It did not appear that any- one told the architects this was forthcoming and Taylor wttitec1 until the enol of the meeting to express his views. Grand Cove and Oakwood are segments of the Stephen Ward, which represents 45% of the assess- ment. Hardy told the Lakeshore Advance this translates into a much lower total of taxes due to the agri- cultural nature of the area. iNVISIJ ARCIIiTI:(;HS In November, South Huron reported that six proposals were received for the South flown Rec- reation (:entre and five for the Exe- ter and District Swimming Pool. Staff reconinrended that Invisij Architects Inc. be awarded the Request for Proposals for both the Recreation Centre and laeter Pool. Preliminary Design and (costing for refurbishing the South 1 luron Rec- reation Centre and the Exeter and District Swimming Pool is $42,030.00. The Budget for these projects is $9(1,000. Members of Si I -Rally said they had asked cotta til to wait until their survey was completed before they hired but that did not happen. COMMUNITY (ROMPS The architects asked a series of questions, asking if there were fea- tures of the existing facility the groups liked, improvements and enhancements needed, what they did not like and want removed, areas that needed repaired and their top three wish list. Most of the group answered the top three wish list. Brittany Fry spoke for the BIA stating they expected a comprehensive long term study, that it be 100% run by the municipality and there be no capital dollars spent until there was a full feasibility study done. 'they also support the work that SI 1 - Rally has done- supporting what the com- munity wants. '1'om !lanai spoke for the lions Club say- ing they support the BIA want and also sup- port SI1- Rally and the community wants. 'the South I luron Optimist rep Joanna Cala- musa said they want a splash pad, the pool being assessable to all and support the SI 1 - Rally group. Rick I lundey spoke for Community Liv- ing saying the want the pool to be assessable for their clients and programs for their cli- ents who are developmentally challenged as well as general improvements for the 49 - year old pool. Christina Godbolt spoke for SII -Rally said the community wants a four - season pool that is a facility for all ages with all swimming abilities, accessible and avail- able to all income levels. Exeter I lawks said they would like to see the pool integrated into the arena facility so it could be used all year. South I luron Chamber said although their group have not met but wanted to know the architect's mandate.1 le was told the mandate was for the refurbishing of the existing facility although they have much experience with four season complexes including YMCAs. Wang said they were happy to talk about an indoor pool but that was not their mandate. Deb Oke- 23 - year owner of the now defunct Kicks Aquatic Centre said there are a lot of changes needed for the existing pool. She said there has been nothing done to the pool since she was a child. She listed the shallow end being too deep, the ladders not good for seniors or handicapped, the lifeguard towers not safe and the length too short for swim teams. She thought splash pad was a needed feature. She agreed it should be year round. A local mom said South I luron needs an indoor pool for "time of year':1 ler kids have sports commitments and Kicks was good for those times when the kids were not in organized sports. Thin Siep, the municipal Io)oI opera- tor said the pool was in pretty good shape considering it is 49 -years old. I le said the plumbing and electrical were out of date and there were other things that needed to meet current codes and this would all be adhered to with a refurbishing. I lundey sug- gested council look at neighbouring facilities such as Goderich and St, Marys to see what challenges they met with. A resident said she did take her kids to the Oakwood pool and although she had the capabilities of driving to Grand Bend and paying the $25.00 for then) to swim, many cannot. "People need to be able to walk to the facility:' she said. Phil Potter from the Exeter I i'awks said in the interest of transparency and disclosure, he wanted to hear from a staff member. CAO Roy !lardy said council has given them direction that relates to the 2009 Commu- nity Master Plan. I le said the recommenda- tion was to refurbish the current pool and this prompted council to go forward to pro- vide the numbers for costs for the upgrades to the pool and rec centre. Steve Riddell, a member of SI 1- Rally said since the Master Plan was done- the inventory has changed, referring to the closure of Kicks. i le sug- gested they review the Master Plan. ATTENTION ADVERTISERS! DEADLINES P. Our Weekly Deadlines are as follows: ADVERTISING & EDITORIAL Friday @ 2:00 pm Office Hours: Mon. & Fri. - 8:00 am - 4:00 pm Tuesday - CLOSED Wed. & Thurs. 9 am - 4 pm t �..._�__. Y_- A N C E 58 Ontario St. S, Grand Bend PH: 519-238-5383 Iakeshore.advancegsunmedia.c