West Park group wants municipal support for playground upgrades

With many young families calling the West Park neighbourhood home, the community association wants to work with the municipality to enhance the outdoor play structures in the area.

The association’s goal is to undertake a fundraising campaign for the enhancements. The organization estimates the upgrades will cost $255,000; its goal is to raise 50 per cent of the money while relying on funds in the municipality’s West Park Development Levy account to pay the rest.

The current balance in that count $192,000.

To acquire support for the project, members of the newly formed West Park Community Association spoke to city council during its Oct. 15 regular meeting. Council voted unanimously to designate the commuis nity association’s initiative as a municipal project so city hall can issue charitable donation receipts to individuals and businesses that contribute to the project. The designation will last until June 30, 2021, with either party able to terminate the designation with 90 days’ notice. Council also voted to have city administration provide a report for consideration once funding and construction plans are finalized. The parks and recreation department wants to review the amenities being proposed to ensure they align with community needs.

There are currently eight designated municipal projects that the City of Moose Jaw supports.

West Park is one of Moose Jaw’s newest developments, a parks and recreation department report explained. Residential lot development is happening in certain locations, while the municipal lands identified for the proposed new amenities are nearing completion.

The association surveyed area residents over the summer to gather input. Of the 154 households that received the survey, 136 — or 88 per cent — responded. Three questions were asked:

• Do you have children or grandchildren who currently use the existing playground? 77 per cent said yes.

• Do you have children or grandchildren who might use the proposed amenities? 85 per cent said yes.

• Are you in support of that project? 100 per cent said yes.

“It should be noted that as of 2018, Stats Canada indicates there are 152 children, under the age of 15, projected to be living in West Park,” the report added.

The amenities the association wants to be added include more components for older children; a multi-use sports pad that could be used as an outdoor skating rink in the winter and basketball court in the spring and summer; a spray park; and a pavilion/ gazebo for community gatherings.

“Our community of young families is growing and our goal is for our park to grow with us,” said association member Chris Olfords.

The people who live in West Park are intertwined and interconnected, while they have known each other for many years, whether growing up together, attending kids’ activities or from community barbecues, he continued

Nearly $10,000 has been raised, with West Park kids raising about 30 per cent of that through bottle drives, lemonade sales, and collecting supportive signatures from residents. The community association is also in talks with several corporate and community-based groups about providing financial support.

“This will benefit the community for generations to come,” he added.

Other community associations collect donations on behalf of their own organizations since they are registered groups, Derek Blais, director of parks and recreation, told Coun. Brian Swanson. Associations can request charitable donation status from city hall if they are not registered as non-profits.

“I appreciate the association and its desire to improve amenities in their subdivision,” said Swanson. “(But) we have a fairly recent example where what the community wanted didn’t necessarily jive with what the city wanted. Once developed, (the upgraded playground) reverts to the city (along with) all costs … the taxpayers will be the ongoing owners.” Maintenance issues are important, said city manager Jim Puffalt. The West Park Community Association has been great to work with and understands that not everything in its plan will happen quickly or even at all.

The next regular council meeting is Oct. 28.