Meaford council has approved a recommendation to include the Centre Street Parkland Master Plan as a top priority of a study, which features a draft design for a new toboggan hill.
During a committee of the whole meeting on Sept. 27, a report from Meaford CAO/Director of Development Services Rob Armstrong, recommends the master plan be made a top priority in the Development Charges Background Study. Staff were also directed to include the needed funds in the 2022 budget to finish the designs and environmental approvals, in order to allow construction to begin in 2023.
The report comes as residents have been using Beautiful Joe Park as the preferred tobogganing hill in the Meaford area. The setting, however, was not designed or intended to be used as such, as it does not match recommended guidelines by the Canadian Standards Act.
The report references how several residents took to social media last winter to express concerns over parking, vehicles and pedestrians, large trees, and the increased risk to children at Beautiful Joe Park.
This comes after a previous council meeting in March, in when council looked at addressing the concerns surrounding the safety of the hill.
As part of the preliminary draft design of the Centre Street Landfill Development, which started in 2019, a portion of the first phase of the project includes a toboggan hill to be constructed. The estimated cost of phase one is $800,000.
Parking areas, walking trails, sports pads, and a connection to the Trout Hollow Trail are planned as part of the Centre Street Park Development, with the toboggan hill and parking lot being geared for the first phase.
The entire project could cost over $1.6 million.
Several council members voiced their support for the toboggan hill, however Coun. Paul Vickers says he worries if a hill built is not comparable to Beautiful Joe, it may not be used that much.
“Unless we do some massive deconstruction of these hills, I don’t think we will stop the kids from going there. So we will spend all this money and we still won’t get to our end goal of giving them a spot they will use. It will be there, it will be safer, but will they use it? And Again I worry just about spending all that money,” says Vickers.
Acknowledging the comments made by Vickers, Coun. Harley Greenfield says, while his colleague might be right in guessing Beautiful Joe would still be popular despite setting up another hill, he says people might be more inclined to visit the new toboggan hill once it is built.
“I think once this is developed, it will take the vast majority of the sleigh riders and tobogganers, if we invite them to it and show them this is a great place to be,” says Greenfield.
Meaford Clerk / Director of Community Services Matt Smith confirms with council approving the recommendation, they would be signing on to make the Centre Street Landfill a priority park in the Development Charges Background Study, as well as include $60,000 in the budget to give council another chance to decide on whether they would like to go ahead with the design of a toboggan hill.
Smith notes, this will come back to council on Oct. 18 for final approval. If it is passed, council will then decide on including it in the 2022 capital budget, occurring around January or February.