Sunday 3 May 2015

Moment with the Mayor: WCEC & Pool

Hi Neighbours:

This column marks a bit of a milestone - my 100th column for the Bean. Thank you for the time you take to read this and for the encouragement you have given me; I appreciate it.

Approval of the budget is coming up, and here are a couple of items we are wrestling with:
West Central Events Centre (WCEC): During the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge, one of our suppliers informed us that our ice plant is not strong enough to make good ice. We have received quotes to upgrade the ice plant, and Councillors Schmidt and McTaggart are looking into it further to see if the proposed $620,000 can be reduced. There are other costs estimated at around $100,000. We are also looking at purchasing dehumidifiers for about $80,000.

An analysis was recently done regarding ice usage at the WCEC, and it shows that the two ice surfaces are each only being used 50% of the time. It is feasible to put all ice activities on one pad, and by doing this, the other pad can be converted to a ‘field house’ enabling other activities such as lawn bowling, indoor soccer, track and field, and more. We understand that this is a significant cultural change in the use of the WCEC but the positives are that it creates new recreational opportunities and truly makes it much more of a multi-use facility. This has to be collaborative effort and no change is planned for the 2015-2016 season.

By converting the one pad, we are hoping to reduce costs and increase usage of the facility. Current stats show that hockey has almost 250 participants, and indoor soccer has capped participant levels at 90 due to gym space. Outdoor soccer has 250 participants; and track has 50 participants.

Pool: Consultations for the pool begin May 19th at a location still to be determined. We received some good news recently: It may be feasible to build an indoor pool in Kindersley for $6 million. To build the pool we had with a 25m swim meet tank, 15m shallow end, a moveable bulk head, 1m diving board, a tots wading pool, a slide, change rooms and admin room, and a party room on the second floor, a comparable current day price would be between $4 - $6 million.


Please write or phone if you would like me to discuss a particular topic. If you have any questions or comments, drop me a line at the town office or email me at mayorenns-wind@kindersley.ca. You can also check out my blog at http://mayorjohn.blogspot.ca/. I appreciate your feedback.

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