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Mono Council receives final Parkland Need Study report

July 13, 2018   ·   0 Comments

By Jasen Obermeyer

Mono council recently heard the final report on the municipality’s Parkland Needs Study, and will move forward on deciding where infrastructure building and renovating is best.

Done by Monteith Brown Planning Consultants, the report was given to council at their meeting last Tuesday (June 26). Monteith held three public meetings throughout March to receive resident’s input on the town’s seven parks.

Mono Centre Park was the most heavily looked at, with recommendations for a new tennis and basketball court, resurface and line multi-use pad for pickleball internal paths, and seating and shade enhancements for festivals and special events.

For Island Lake Family Park, recommendations included outdoors fitness equipment, internal paths, shade and seating, replace playground surfacing, and have a neighbourhood-scale splash pad.

Monora Park and Lloyd Armstrong Memorial Park were supporting trail improvements and community programs.

Madill Meadows Park and Purple Hill Park were both given recommendations for new playground surfacing, and Mono College Park was suggested for minor improvements to ball diamond infield and seating areas.

“We need some bit of focus,” said Councillor Ralph Manktelow. “The more we talk about this, the more we get a sense of where we can be going here.”

Several residents in the various park areas spoke to council and Monteith at the meeting, and raised further questions, comments, and concerns regarding infrastructure and wildlife.

“I think that the final decision on this report moving forward is a council decision,” commented Deputy Mayor Ken McGhee.

Councillor Fred Nix expressed the need to make a decision on the recommendation before the upcoming municipal election in October, with the potential for a new council. “If we don’t start moving no, this report is just going to be a at a desk.”

“I would like to see some fairly concrete figures coming forward from staff regarding the development charges,” added Mayor Laura Ryan. “Once we have that in place, then we can go and further refine, have further consultation with our residents, have the recreation advisory committee coming forward with their recommendation.”

Council agreed to have staff report back with a list on potential capital costs and maintenance, to determine where best to spend on the recommendations by Monteith. The staff report would be reviewed by the town’s recreation advisory committee and then brought to council where a final decision is expected.

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