It may be spring but Meaford councillors are already thinking about where people will toboggan in the municipality next winter.
Meaford council resolved at its meeting Monday to direct municipal staff to bring forward a report regarding the potential immediate implementation of Phase 1 of the Centre Street Park development plan as it works to steer people away from tobogganing at Beautiful Joe Park due to safety and liability concerns.
The Centre Street Park proposal is to build a public green space in an 11-acre property that is a decommissioned landfill site now eligible to be developed into parkland.
A concept design of the project calls for a parking lot, toboggan hill and main trail connection to be built in Phase 1. A budget estimate document prepared in February 2020 expects Phase 1 would cost about $800,000.
Meaford’s Director of Corporate Services and Treasurer Darcy Chapman told councillors Monday the first phase of the Centre Street Park build would be around $1-million, but noted the municipality has about $960,000 in a development charge reserve fund it could apply to the project.
The motion passed was amended from Coun. Ross Kentner’s original proposal to have staff bring forward a report with options for the establishment of a toboggan hill by next winter.
Kentner’s motion speaks about “inherent dangers” with tobogganing at Beautiful Joe Park because of the proximity of the hill to the road and large trees. It also raises concerns about limited parking in the area.
“It was a short winter, but Beautiful Joe Park was used very, very extensively for tobogganing,” Kentner said. “…I think too we all recognize Beautiful Joe Park is not the safest toboggan hill either.”
Chapman urged councillors to stop referring to Beautiful Joe Park as a tobogganing area. He said the municipality’s insurers raised concerns about that activity there.
“It is not the municipality’s toboggan hill, it is not where we want to send people, it has not been engineered for that purpose,” Chapman told councillors. “To ensure the municipality doesn’t find itself in a liability position where we have no way to get out of, please do not refer to this as the toboggan hill anymore.”
Coun. Tony Bell noted if the municipality’s insurance carrier is stressing that activity does not take place at Beautiful Joe Park, than unfortunately that’s going to have to be policed.
“We know how telling our ratepayers what they cannot do does not go over very well,” Bell explained. “But to protect ourselves, I think we’re going to have to look at that next winter.”