At their regular meeting on Wednesday, Rocanville Town Council made the decision to slash the prices of lots in Cameron Crescent by 50 per cent, in a bid to incentivize buyers.
The subdivision on the east side of Rocanville consists of 22 lots, of which four have been sold, leaving 18 available lots.
Council decided that cutting the cost of the lots by 50 per cent would help buyers looking to build a home secure a loan.
The lots on Cameron Crescent vary in size and price, and once purchased, must be built on within two years.
Mayor Ron Reed says he hopes the discount helps buyers and prospective home owners who are interested in the land.
“If it’s more enticing to get the land, then it’s easier for them to move forward,” he says.
Town moving toward restructuring of recreation
There was discussion at the meeting Wednesday about restructuring how the town’s recreation facilities are managed. Currently each facility in the town has a board that manages that facility, but the town wants to move toward having the rec director oversee the facilities, with the boards in place for input and fundraising. Council sat down with Rec Director Andrea Logan on Wednesday to discuss some of the changes.
“The rec director would be a rec manager overall and oversee all the boards, and rather than the boards managing the rec director,” said Mayor Ron Reed after the meeting.
“We would keep the boards as far as input from each different group. But then they would report their needs and wants to the rec director and then the rec director would make the final decision on overall rec decisions.”
Reed says the new model would likely start with the pool and the rink, and then be applied to other town facilities as the town transitions its facilities to the new model of management. Reed said the rec director could look after things like scheduling and potentially staffing, leaving the boards free to focus more on things like fundraising instead of the overall management duties of the facilities.
“They would be more like a fundraising board versus a managing or an administrative board where they do everything on their own underneath the rec director,” says Reed.
Outdoor rink, dog park, walking paths, and new pool discussed
In sitting down with Rec Director Andrea Logan on Wednesday, the town and Logan also discussed a few major recreation projects, both short-term and long-term, as well as securing grant money for the projects.
First on the agenda was Rocanville’s indoor swimming pool. Logan said the pool is in need of some major renos and repairs, including a new liner, new decking, a dehumidifier and air exchange system. She asked council if she should start applying for grants for these projects, and said the pool board has talked about whether the town should be looking at a whole new pool at some point.
She said the importance of having an indoor pool is big for Rocanville, as it is one of the main thing that sets their town’s rec facilities apart. No other town in the area has a public indoor pool, and most have outdoor pools.
Councillor Owen Wilson pointed out that a new pool would be a very big, major long-term goal, and that the town should be applying for grants now for repairs in order to keep the current pool operational for as long as possible.
Logan suggested that councillors do a walk through of the facility with her one evening to review all of the work that needs to be done, and a date was set for that to be done.
The town also discussed their plans for a walking path and dog park, which would be developed in a copse of trees on the east side of town behind the former Grainger’s Excavating location. Logan said she will begin applying for grants for things like benches and dog bag stations for that area and council figured it was a project that could be completed fairly quickly once the weather is warmer.
A location for a permanent outdoor rink was also discussed with council favoring an area behind the curling rink. The plan is to level and area and have boards up by next winter so that the rink can be used, and Logan said she would apply for grants for that project as well.
Ice plant to be shut off at rink
The ice plant at the rink will be shut off sometime within the next week in order to save money on rink costs due to very little activity taking place in the rink because of Covid-19. The rink will continue to operate with natural ice for as long as possible until the weather turns and the ice begins to melt.
Goulden thanked for years of service on library board
Council passed a motion to purchase a gift for Deenie Goulden in recognition of her long-time service as the town rep on the library board. Goulden has been doing the job since 2006, first as the town’s rep during her time on council, and then as a member at large afterwards.
As per town policy, the town’s library rep would be paid to attend the library meetings, however Goulden has never been paid for her work, nor asked to be paid.
Council decided to purchase a $500 gift card to thank her for her service.
Reduced rent for dental office,playschool extended
Council passed a motion to extend a reduced rental rate for the playschool and dental office for six more months. The playschool dental office, which are located in town facilities, have had their rent reduced by 50 per cent to alleviate the effects of Covid-19, and it was decided to review that rate at the end of 2020. Council made the decision to extend the reduced rate for six more months and then review it again at that time.
Letter of thanks
After the town created some outdoor winter walking paths around the ball diamonds in Rocanville, council received a letter of thanks for a family that was thrilled with the paths, saying they have been using them often and enjoying being able to take their dogs out on the paths.
