By Nigel Maxwell

POLL: Future of Prince Albert’s Kinsmen Park taking shape

Jul 8, 2015 | 7:49 AM

There was more discussion about Prince Albert’s Kinsmen Park during Monday night’s council meeting.

City Council debated many ideas during discussion about a motion to hold a public consultation.

Mayor Greg Dionne said one new attraction he would like to see is outdoor exercise equipment.

“It’s a bench you can sit on and do sit ups, it’s made for outside and it’s very doable, maybe we should look into a little area for that along the pathway,” said Dionne.

Dionne suggested the City could order the equipment now, and then repay the money next year.

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A few other ideas mentioned by Dionne included a second basketball court and getting rid of the paddling pool.

“You know considering Kinsmen Water Park is right there, maybe that could be a cost saving and use that programming for something else,” said Dionne.

Councilor Ted Zurakowski said Dionne’s suggestion was a good example of why the City needs to have a public consultation about the park.

“Clearly it services another group of people that of young families that are raising their young kids and cannot take a six month or an 18-month-old baby to the water park,” he said.

Zurakowski said City Council also needs to talk about the condition of the pathways and the flooding.

The City has applied for a federal grant, and should get an answer within the next couple weeks.

In the meantime, Councillor Lee Atkinson reminded council that they have $600,000 in reserves for projects such as this.

The fund was started a few years ago.  A percentage of the city’s lot sales was put into the fund.

“If we really are whole-heartedly wanting to improve this park I think we could access those funds and repay them from other sources at some other later date,” said Atkinson.

Mayor Greg Dionne agreed with Atkinson’s point.

Discussion concluded by agreeing that public consultation should be included in the decision phase.

The City’s community services department will now prepare a report around how to best proceed with a public consultation process.

nmaxwell@panow.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell