Village of Boyle council members said during a joint council meeting Jan. 8 that they would like Athabasca County to give more cash to recreation in the village.
The two councils came together for the first time in the 2017-21 term to talk about drawing up a joint recreation agreement.
Funding operations for the Greater Athabasca Community Foundation’s (GACF) Boyle spray park project was a part of the discussion.
Athabasca County Coun. Dennis Willcott said the GACF had never mentioned anything about funding ongoing operations when they approached council and requested a $50,000 donation for the park’s construction.
“I think that’s wrong. I think if we had some say in there, maybe we’d have know that off the head, but we didn’t know nothing about operating,” he said. “That bothers me.”
Last January, Boyle council passed a resolution that Boyle’s approval of the spray park project was contingent on Athabasca County paying half the annual operating costs. County council found out about Boyle’s motion for the first time in September, prompting a request for a joint meeting.
Village of Boyle chief administrative officer Charlie Ashbey estimated the park’s annual operating costs would be a maximum of $46,436, making the ask of Athabasca County a projected $23,000 annually.
Ashbey said the “awkward part” is the GACF is a group of private citizens, and a spray park was not on Boyle’s priority list for projects at the time.
“It’s not the village building this spray park. It’s this private group. And of course, they don’t want to operate it,” Ashbey said. He added in most communities with spray parks, private groups fundraise for construction and the municipality operates it.
The GACF is currently just shy of their final fundraising goal for construction of the spray park, and in three years have raised about $290,000 for the project.
Athabasca County Coun. Christine Bilsky said Boyle’s motion put the county in a hard spot.
“You kind of put us in a hard spot here, I felt like,” she said. “My opinion was, ‘Oh great, if we don’t give the 50 per cent, it’s all Athabasca County’s fault.’”
Village of Boyle Mayor Colin Derko said that was not the. He said it was more a “common sense” approach to “the fact that this is a recreation facility” and it is a joint effort.
Bilsky asked whether Boyle would still approve the project if the county refused to share in operating the spray park.
Derko responded his council told the GACF there was no way they could take on an undertaking like the spray park alone.
“If the county was willing to look at it as a partner with us, then we could take it to our council and say, ‘OK, let’s look at these numbers and make sure we can afford these numbers,’” he said. “One hundred per cent, we know we couldn’t afford that; that’s hanging our taxpayers and citizens with too big a burden.”
Athabasca County Coun. Penny Stewart asked whether village council would definitely contribute to the park’s operations if the county approved their requested share.
Derko said he thinks the feeling of village council would be they would.
The village and county are working on drawing up a “master” recreation agreement, which Boyle council requested would expand the county’s annual contribution towards recreation in Boyle.
Ashbey said village council likes the wording of Athabasca County’s arena operational assistance policy for Boyle, that county council deems it appropriate to assist Boyle with the arena’s operational deficit, recognizing the arena serves county residents as well.
“We take that philosophy to all recreation,” he said.
In addition to requesting the spray park be included in a master plan, Ashbey said the village would like it to include the county contributing 50 per cent of the Boyle Community Centre’s annual operating deficit. Currently, the county pays 50 per cent of the centre’s utilities and insurance costs.
They also requested the county make their one-time $12,000 grant last year to the Boyle Youth Centre and Boyle Fitness Centre annually recurring, and the village’s ball diamonds be included in the agreement.
Derko said the big thing the village is trying to achieve is “simplicity.”
“I think the biggest thing here is what we’re trying to achieve – and I say we, I mean the county and village – is probably some simplicity to the whole formula,” he said. He added the village feels bad every time they have to come and request money.
“It’s probably a good idea just to get something down so it’s known by your council and our council that this is just what it is and we don’t have to keep bugging you,” he said.
In an interview, Ashbey said the village is not seeking equal treatment to the town, just “fair treatment.” During the meeting, he distributed a list of regional services that are located in the Town of Athabasca, which he said is a benefit the town enjoys and the village does not.
“We’re talking a few hundred thousand dollars compared to millions, between the Multiplex and the pool,” he said. “We’re not requesting huge capital amounts. This is all operational.”
