Kings Billiards results

Monday afternoon Seniors 9 Ball, July 30, Division A:

1. Glen Gavel

2. Ron Vallillee

3. Vic Spates

4. Bill MacKinlay Monday Night 9 Ball July 30:

1. Warren Cottreau

2. Cal Boudreau

3. Davis Atkinson Wednesday afternoon Seniors 8 Ball Aug 1:

1. Grant Sobol

2. Larry Ferguson

3. Eric Hurlburt

4. Glen Gavel

The ball is rolling on the discussion of a splash pad for Yarmouth.

Following the formation of a group on Facebook – the Yarmouth Splash Park Committee – a meeting was held Aug. 2 to discuss and explore the matter further. There were 11 people present for the meeting, which included Frank Grant, the director of Yarmouth Recreation, and Yarmouth Mayor Pam Mood.

The meeting explored the need to register a group as a society, something Grant said is needed when applying for funding and for the planning stages.

It legitimizes the process, he said.

He suggested a working group of 6-8 people would be best, and that other community members could also be brought into the fold on sub-committees.

“The good thing is there’s a lot of support through the Facebook page. We know there is a lot of interest. We know it’s being talked about,” he said.

It was discussed that the Fa- cebook group will continue to be used to share information, gather ideas and suggestions and for a means of getting people involved in the process.

Grant mentioned a splash pad is an expensive venture, but he also encouraged those pushing for one to “aim big.”

“I always say aim big,” he said, saying it’s easier to scale a project back if needed, then adding to a project once plans have been developed.

He told those at the meeting there is all kinds of funding that can be applied for when projects like this are being pursued. If water is being recycled there is green funding that can be applied for due to water conservation. He said accessibility funding is also another avenue to pursue.

Mayor Mood also talked about federal and provincial funding, saying she’s already had discussions with MP Colin Fraser and MLA Zach Churchill who are aware of the community interest in this project. The mayor said funding for these types of projects is divided into thirds: a third federal, a third provincial and a third local.

One of the biggest decisions that will need to be made is location.

It was noted that wherever a splash pad is located it will be a matter of starting out from scratch. Grant said piping that used to exist underground at the South End Playground no longer exists. Beacon Park is another area that’s been discussed as a potential location. And there have been others mentioned.

At the meeting there were ideas thrown out for how the process of choosing a location could occur. One idea was coming up with a list of criteria and then having some sort of scoring system.

Linda Gallagher, one of those at the meeting, said it will be useful to talk to other communities where splash pads have been installed to get information on costs, designs and lessons learned.

While there are still many questions, there was also a lot of enthusiasm in the room. Jana Jeffery, who organized the meeting, was overcome with emotion as the discussion surrounded not just talking about this as an idea, but rather working to make it a reality.

“This is really happening,” she said, her eyes glistening with tears.