Hub Staff

Saugeen Shores Council approved North Shore Park as the destination for the Port Elgin Lions Club Splashpad by a vote of 6 to 3 during the December 12 Committee of the Whole meeting in Council Chambers.

Representatives from Friends of North Shore Park and other community members against the lakefront location attended the council meeting that saw Todd Brown of Monteith Brown Planning Consultants give an overview of comments made, and questions asked - both positive and negative - during a November 30 public open house.

See: North Shore Park public meeting well attended

Brown surmised that North Shore Park is already a “disturbed” land with a children's playground, a picnic shelter and a tourist train that runs through the park. He made mention that parking spaces numbering between 10 and 20 would be made available, and that following the first few hot weeks of summer, the number using the park would dwindle. He said that a safety berm would be installed to create a safe space for children around the tourist train, and stressed that the lakefront location would be safe for children as well as users of all abilities.

Councillors Don Matheson, Cheryl Grace and Vice-Deputy Mayor Dianne Huber were the three votes against the North Shore Park location, while Councillor John Rich, who voted in support of the location, did so with melancholy. “I think that there’s probably a lot of better location that we probably could have used,” said Rich, later stating that he would rather see the splash pad at the previously suggested Port Elgin Main Beach, however expressed a promise of commitment he had made to the Splashpad Committee.

“I wanted to make sure that their project went forward even if I wasn't happy with the way the location was working out, because in the end I think that when people come forward with great ideas and try to make the community better that we have to support those people.” Rich added that there never seemed to be an opportunity to move it from the North Shore Park location or settle on a compromise.

Vice-Deputy Mayor Dianne Huber was one of the first people to speak out against the location, doing so prior to Council approving the location in principle last June. “I think we missed an opportunity to put an amenity in a place within the community where a lot of people live." Huber went on to say that the location will result in a lot of traffic and she doesn’t know how the Town or Council will address that in the future.

During the Open Forum Rinka Smallwood and Virginia Carson both took the opportunity to speak before Council, both opposing the location. Carson stated that 10 percent of the population do not support the location and suggested that councillors run Saugeen Shores “like a well-run business”. Carson said that the Main Beach location, even though staff passed it by citing issues of sand migration, would be a better choice with proper filtrations. She went on to say that she would support the splash pad in spirit as well as financially no matter where it is built, but hoped councillors would reconsider the location of North Shore Park.

The new splash pad is set to open on July 1, 2017 with $75,000 in requested town support, which will come from town reserves, currently making its way through the 2017 Budget.

See: Combinations of needs and asks lead to proposed tax increase

The Port Elgin Splashpad Committee will provide the remaining 80 percent of the needed funds raised through donors and community fundraisers such as the Lake Huron Children's Festival and the 2015 PoutineFest. The Port Elgin Lions Club, Bruce Power and the Society of Energy Professionals are significant donors to the project.