A swimming pool continues to be the top recreational priority for the majority of local residents.
The results are in for the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) grant priorities survey, conducted by the Town of Bonnyville. Of the total 1,303 respondents, 708 people (or 54 per cent) ranked a pool as the number one priority.
An arts centre came in second, with 256 survey participants rating it as their top priority, and the C2 expansion sits third with 151 votes.
“Number one was the pool; an upgrade of some kind or a brand new facility. All three of them, I think you can interpret them as expansions to the C2, especially when you start taking a look at some of the comments,” said Mayor Gene Sobolewski.
The Town of Bonnyville issued the survey last month, as a way of getting public input on which project they should be submitting an application for under the ICIP grant program. It was open to residents in both the Town and MD of Bonnyville, and provided five projects for respondents to rank: a pool, arts centre, C2 expansion, dog park, and outdoor rink.
From the total responses received, 629 came from residents within the town, and 674 from the MD.
“We’ve had some really surprising results. From a survey perspective, the amount of responses we’ve had is amazing. Then we break it down, that around 52 per cent of who responded were from the MD,” Sobolewski explained. “The break down is close to the C2 funding split, so that surprised me. I didn’t expect to see those kinds of numbers.”
During their May 8 meeting, council took an in-depth look at the results of the survey to discuss the outcome and the best option moving forward.
After the C2 expansion, the dog park came in fourth with 125 people saying it’s their top priority, and the outdoor rink ranked last with 62 respondents ranking it number one.
Residents also had the chance to leave any additional comments, or add items they thought should be considered. Eighty-four people listed a movie theatre as something they would like to see in town. Other suggestions included a bowling alley, a kids zone play area larger than the current one at the C2, racquetball/squash courts, and hiking/biking trails.
Many of the comments regarding the pool mentioned having a state-of-the-art pool, including a wave pool, water slides, and a splash park.
“Adding a pool and arts centre at the C2 accomplishes the top three goals of everybody that responded to us. It’s really rolling the top three into one project to meet the majority of the needs,” said Coun. Brian McEvoy.
Coun. Elisa Brousseau noted that while a state-of-the-art pool would be great to have, she would like to see council move ahead with a project that can be completed a little quicker.
“To me, having a young family, it’s just been the consistency of it always being down, the small pool not being open, the hot tub not being open, that’s what has made the public so frustrated with our current pool. With the results of this survey, my suggestion would be to possibly submit two applications. Get this pool all done at once to really give the community what they want. Then maybe do another application for the fine arts theatre because we do have the support on that one.”
Judging by the split in the number of respondents from the town and MD, Sobolewski suggested rather than the town going in on a grant application alone, there could be opportunity for a partnership.
“As a starting point, I’d like to sit down with the MD and show them the results, as basic as they are, and have the dialogue,” he said, adding they already have preliminary plans drawn up for phase two of the C2 from 2005.
While the idea of completing a specific recreation needs assessment was tossed around, council was unsure it could be completed in time for the August grant application deadline.
Before making any decisions on which project to submit a grant application for, council voted unanimously to set up a meeting with the MD and discuss the results.
