City Council Wrap

Friday, 12 December 2014 05:30

Parks and Recreation Study as well as committee appointments dominated Thursday night's meeting

WOODSTOCK - Woodstock's new city council closed 2014 with their first official council meeting. Council heard two delegations; one from Monteith Consulting regarding the study of the city's park and recreation facilities, the other from former Mayor Michael Harding who took the opportunity to reaffirm his position to the new council regarding his request for information on the sale of Woodstock Hydro ahead of a cross examination of the hydro sale proposals in January. Harding is one of two interveners challenging the sale of Woodstock Hydro agreement.

The Parks and Recreation presentation from Monteith Brown Planning Consultants recommended decommissioning Lion's Pool due to issues with parking, the age of the building (built in 1947) in addition to operating at a $100,000 deficit on a yearly basis. The consulting group proposed constructing a new spray pad in the east end of the City.

Aging infrastructure such as the Woodstock Civic Centre Arena is approaching the end of its useful life and it was recommended the city replace it within the next 5 to 10 years. The City currently has no city operated gymnasium; the recommendation was to construct a multi-purpose gym for youth and adults.

As for sports fields the report suggested building 3 lit baseball diamonds within the next 5 years. The city initiated a 3 month period for comments from the community about the parks and recreation in the city.

In preparation for the upcoming 2015 capital budget council approved a motion for $12,000 in funding for the Afghanistan Memorial Monument for Victoria Park. County and City Councillor Sandra Talbot said the money will go towards a granite base for a bronze soldier that will pay tribute to a local soldier who was killed; Private Tyler Todd.

Councillor Board Appointments for 2014-2018:

Art Gallery Advisory Board- Connie Lauder
Police Services Board - Shawn Shapton
Public Library Board - Deb Tait/Connie Lauder
Woodstock Board of Management - Sandra Talbot
Woodstock Hydro Holdings - Connie Lauder/Todd Poetter/Trevor Birtch

Police Services Board - Shawn Shapton
Public Library Board - Deb Tait/Connie Lauder
Woodstock Board of Management - Sandra Talbot
Woodstock Hydro Holdings - Connie Lauder/Todd Poetter/Trevor Birtch