The Town of Minto will seek funds to repair and upgrade the Harriston-Minto Kinsmen Pool and re-develop a trailer park property into parkland through a federal infrastructure program.
At the June 7 meeting, CAO Bill White reported a second intake for the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program was recently announced.
The town’s 2015 application to complete the trail link from Palmerston to Harriston and Clifford with funds from the program was denied. Applications for the second allocation of $44.4 million are due June 24.
“It’s is not clear why the Sesquicentennial Trail Link was not approved except the criteria allow for ‘extending a trail or bike path by no more than 50 per cent of its existing length,” White stated in a written report.
“To meet these criteria the length of the town trail was calculated to include side trails in Clifford and Harriston.
Since the submission was not successful, staff recommended applying for a different project to the second intake.
Projects suggested by staff included:
– Harriston Kinsmen Pool repair and upgrade (underground infrastructure, walls, lining, water umbrella) for $250,000 ;
– Harriston Trailer Park re-design and upgrade (landscape plan, naturalization; clean up, planting, etc.) for $150,000;
– Palmerston arena dressing room repairs/expansion (dressing room addition, re-design and re-furbish existing rooms) for $600,000;
– decorative lighting on the Palmerston rail bridge for $145,000;
– Clifford Ann Street Trail Link (re-grading, fencing, landscaping, naturalization) for $100,000; and
– Clifford old Rotary Park refurbishment (upgrades, tree planting) for $100,000.
“All the projects have significant merit, but the most overall benefit might be from an application on the Harriston Kinsmen Pool upgrades, which include some work on the reclaimed trailer park,” the report states.
However, White told council staff was not advocating any particular project.
“We didn’t recommend one. We thought that might be a challenge,” White stated.
“The only reason we sort of gently suggested Harriston in terms of parkland is quite a long way has gone with the Palmerston Lions Park, which is the focal point park in Palmerston and with the Clifford Rotary John Hobbleman Park. Harriston is now … hopefully going to catch up with those.
“We do know that the pool has had some issues and we do have a potential partner in the Kinsmen.”
“Isn’t that pool like 40 years old?” asked councillor Ron Elliott. “Instead of repairing it, would it be better to be looking at building a new pool?” he wondered.
White replied the town’s facilities manger and recreation manager “feel like that pool could do well with that kind of work.”
“That Kinsmen pool has served this town well over the past 40 years,” said deputy mayor Ron Faulkner, adding the work could be used to “bring it up to snuff until fundraising could support a new one.”
Councillor Mary Lou Colwell agreed the project might help to postpone building a new pool for 10 years to allow both the town and the Kinsmen to build up funds for it.
Councilor Jean Anderson stated “the pool provides a valuable service to the youth of this community.”
She moved council proceed with the an application combining the pool project with work on the trailer park lands, which are located directly across the Maitland River.
The motion passed unopposed.
There are only two trailers remaining in the trailer park. In 2011, council gave residents 10 years to vacate the park due to ongoing flooding concerns.
