NIPAWIN — Nipawin is one step closer to an off-leash dog park following the passing of the motion to proceed with the park’s development.
The town will be providing maintenance of the park and will be protected with no increases to their premiums.
“If we ensure that it's a fenced area with adequate signage, we will be protected under our liability coverage,” said Director of Parks and Recreation Chelsea Corrigan during the Jan. 25 council meeting.
The motion was not unanimously passed with two members of council opposing. Mayor Rennie Harper was one member saying that more needs to be done to protect the town’s liability and more work for their bylaw enforcement officer and more operational spending.
“There are some issues that I don't believe have been totally resolved in my mind.”
The park will be developed along Lynn Street between 11th and 12th Avenue West with Corrigan saying they have chosen an area on the outer part of town that will still be easy for users to access. Town administration has been in contact with homeowners and there has been no response back whether in agreement or disagreement with the project, she said.
According to the memorandum that went before council, now that the motion has passed, “administration will contact the dog park committee to inform them they can proceed with fundraising efforts for this project and that land has been allocated for the dog park.”
Council also passed the motion to remove the ice at the Centennial and Jubilee arenas earlier than expected given the drop in usage this winter due to COVID-19.
Corrigan originally brought the motion to council with Feb. 12 being the start date for removing the Centennial ice surface and converting Jubilee arena to a natural ice surface, the council has agreed to bring the motion forward at Corrigan’s discretion. Due to a conversation with Skate Nipawin, the date of the Centennial removal is unknown since they are requesting the ice stay until the end of February to accommodate the filming of a virtual skating performance and test days for their club. This request will be taken into account as Corrigan takes the motion back to her staff to discuss what the best course of action will be and what date they will choose for the process to take place.
Corrigan estimates that keeping the ice in for the month of February would cost the town around $40,000 for maintaining the ice surfaces as they are but that does not include the revenues that will come from having the ice surface remain.
