Page 1 A regular meeting of the Zorra Recreation Advisory Committee was held at 7:00 p.m. on Monday,, at the Harrington Hall. Attendance: Doug Diplock Chris Cockle John Chalkley Katherine Grieve Wendi Jackson Don Weir Mayor Margaret Lupton Councillor Gord MacKay Councillor Marie Keasey Trevor Sanderson, Recreation and Facilities Manager Lisa Teeple, Recording Secretary Regrets: Sandra Baigent Rob Oliver Guests: Tony Redix, Thamesford Arena Complex Committee Steve Glover, Thamesford Trojans 1. CALL TO ORDER Doug Diplock calls the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. 2. MINUTES (a) Minutes from ZRAC Meeting held on June 23, 2014. 01-09-14 Moved by: Katherine Grieve Seconded by: John Chalkley THAT the minutes of the June 23, 2014 meeting of the Zorra Recreation Advisory Committee be accepted as circulated.
Page 2 3. BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES (a) North Park Trillium Grant Lessons Learned Report Sandra Baigent Sandra got held up in Toronto and is not in attendance at this meeting. This agenda item will be added to the agenda for the October meeting. Doug to send letter of thanks on behalf of ZRAC to Phil Scott for his work on the North Park renovation project. (b) Recreation Survey Subcommittee Report Doug Diplock Doug reviews the report completed by the subcommittee that met to review the results of the Recreation Needs Survey. The low response rate was disappointing as only 140 completed surveys were received. Margaret suggests choosing 2 or 3 key messages to post in the next Zorra Now and note that the full subcommittee report is available to review on the website. Lisa will post the report on the website after the report is forwarded to Council for review. Doug comments that the survey results reinforce the need for a 5-year Recreation Plan. Tony Redix comments that he is disappointed in the response rate for the survey. Katherine feels that the low response rate indicates that people are going elsewhere for activities. Wendi notes her surprise over the lack of input from families with young children. Trevor feels the low response rate is very disappointing, especially since the survey was widely distributed and was readily available to most residents. Trevor also points out that the majority of respondents are in favour of more walking trails and this is not surprising. Gord feels that it is difficult to use this survey to create a recreation plan when there is such a small response rate and suggests that we may want to hold public meetings to generate more input. Don feels we need to use the survey results we have to make recommendations to Council. Marie explains that public meetings would be held after Council accepts a draft recreation plan. Doug suggests that we recommend that Council review our report and make note of responses which received a high rating (ie: over 70%). Marie suggests coordinating a focus group that involves recreation staff to get some ideas based on their experiences. Trevor agrees as the Recreation Department has staff who have worked her for many years and they will be able to provide some valuable input. Gord comments that fundraising for large projects is very difficult and he adds the importance of having a plan in place in order to take advantage of government funding if/when funding becomes available.
Page 3 02-09-14 Moved by: Marie Keasey Seconded by: John Chalkley THAT the Zorra Recreation Advisory Committee recommends that the Council of the Township of Zorra strike a committee to review the results of the Recreation Survey and establish a draft 5-year Recreation Plan. 03-09-14 Moved by: Marie Keasey Seconded by: John Chalkley THAT the Zorra Recreation Advisory Committee recommends to the Council of the Township of Zorra that a Focus Group involving Recreation Staff be established to provide input into a 5-year Recreation Plan. 04-09-14 Moved by: Don Weir Seconded by: John Chalkley THAT the Zorra Recreation Advisory Committee recommends to the Council of the Township of Zorra that the draft 5-year Recreation Plan is forwarded to the Zorra Recreation Advisory Committee for review prior to holding Public Meetings to allow Committee members to review. 4. NEW BUSINESS (a) Harrington & Embro Arena Ball Parks in poor condition Trevor Sanderson Trevor explains that the ball diamonds at Embro arena and Harrington are in disrepair and have not been used in some time. It is costing the Recreation Department a lot of time and money to drag these diamonds and Trevor would like us to consider the future of these parks. Trevor feels that some work needs to be done to fix up these parks or we may want to consider repurposing the space if the diamonds are not being used. Doug suggests converting the diamond in Harrington to a soccer field if there is a need for more soccer space. Trevor says he has not received specific requests for more soccer space however he feels that more green space can always be used for various events. John comments on the need for a baseball diamond with a dedicated mound for baseball in Thamesford and wonders if the Harrington ball park could offer this. John says the diamond in Embro is not used because it is not being maintained but he feels that Embro Minor Ball would make use of the additional diamond if the diamond and the holes in the fence were fixed up. Trevor says that his department is able to drag the diamond if they know it will be used. John says that Embro diamond would not be used on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday evenings because of soccer but could be used on other days, as well as offer more tournaments if the second diamond was available. Tournaments would help to generate booth profits for
Page 4 Embro Minor Ball as well. Margaret suggests that John send a list of repairs for the Embro arena diamond to Trevor for review. Katherine says that many kids go to St. Pauls Station for a combination soccerbaseball program that is offered there. Chris adds that this program is heavily funded by the Optimist Club. Doug will ask the Harrington Community Association for input regarding the ball diamond in Harrington and report back to Trevor. (b) Oxford Trails Council Representation/Meeting Attendance Marie Keasey Marie has been attending the meetings of the Oxford Trails Council which are held monthly at the County Administration Building. Most municipalities send at least one person to represent them at the meetings including Ingersoll, Tillsonburg, Woodstock, and the County. Cher Sprague is the representative for Zorra Township but she is not always able to attend the meetings. Marie recommends that Trevor be appointed to attend the Trails meetings to represent the Township. All are in agreement that this recommendation be made to Council. 05-09-14 Moved by: Marie Keasey Seconded by: Wendi Jackson THAT the Zorra Recreation Advisory Committee recommends to the Council of the Township of Zorra that the Recreation & Facilities Manager be appointed to represent the Township of Zorra at the monthly Oxford Trails Council meetings. OTHER NEW BUSINESS Wendi says that the pool staff are happy with the new pool cover but asks about the water usage problem this summer. Trevor advises that a leak was discovered in August but it is unclear if the leak is in the pool or the pipes. Trevor has been in contact with a pool contractor to try and locate the leak. There has been no further water loss since the pool was closed. Trevor has been in contact with the County of Oxford to try and have the water bill expense reduced due to the leak. Wendi asks about the fate of the diving board at the pool since there was an accident there this summer and caution tape was put up around the diving board. Trevor plans to have a contractor review the diving board and see what the options are. Doug questions if the Township requires a damage deposit for groups like Calithumpian when they are using Township properties for events. Trevor says that they have not done this in the past but the Recreation Department is considering adding a time frame into the rental agreement to ensure more timely repairs of damage to property (ie: demolition derby). Gord adds that this
Page 5 issue has come up in Embro as well since the soccer fields are used for the Highland Games and the horse show at the Embro Fall Fair. Trevor has met with the Caledonians to make plans for immediate repair after heavy events next year to avoid possible injury for soccer players. Chris comments that a mound was put in for the tug of war which caused a loss of 12 yards of one of the soccer pitches and it is no longer regulation. This caused Embro to lose 2 teams and they can no longer hold tournaments because of the loss of this pitch. Trevor feels there are better locations on the grounds for tug of war which would not interfere with soccer, especially since tug of war is only 2 days per year. Katherine feels that praise are due to Trevor and the Recreation Staff for some nice clean-up efforts in the parks in Embro. Doug advises the volleyball/badminton net in Harrington is ready to go and they are looking for donations of old badminton rackets if anyone has any. Lisa will post this on the Township Twitter feed. Donations can be dropped off at Harrington Hall. Trevor and Doug have been working on the liquor licensing project and are still at an information gathering stage. Trevor will try to have a report ready for discussion at the November meeting as this will be the last meeting of this ZRAC committee. Steve Glover from the Thamesford Trojans organization is interested in hearing what comes out of this information gathering. In the past year, the Trojans have completed 40 Special Occasion Permit applications and insurance for all events. Licensed facilities would substantially reduce the workload for this group, however, at what cost? Steve reports that 70% of the Trojans operating budget comes from alcohol sales. Tony Redix from the Thamesford Arena Complex Committee feels that Thamesford and Embro minor sports groups should consider involving Ingersoll to allow for more diversified teams. Tony has seen this in many small towns in the area. John agrees with this suggestion and feels that if there were one minor ball association for the entire Township, our communities would be encouraged to come together. Marie asks for an update on ice bookings. Trevor says the ice time is about the same as last year. Marie advises Thamesford Lawn Bowling Club will be offering indoor carpet bowling on Tuesdays from 10:00am to 12:00pm starting on October 7, 2014 at a cost of $2.00 per person per week. The Ingersoll Seniors Centre will also be promoting this event.