At the March 25 council meeting, Mayor Trina Jones stated that there is new interest in a Junior “A” hockey team returning to Woodstock, and that the municipality had been approached.
“Due to the economic benefits of something like that, we are giving it serious consideration,” said Jones. She mentioned that it could impact the user groups who use the facilities, so they are taking that into consideration.
“We are doing our due diligence, our research, and staff have been asked to get council a lot of significant, helpful information,” said Jones. “It is being evaluated and then I think we will have them come to present to council as soon as possible.”
She went on to say that if it is discovered that it may potentially impact some of the user groups, the council will have to contact them and do further investigation.
“It’s in evaluation mode. It’s not a done deal. It will be a decision of council at the end of the day who ultimately decides what service we should offer. It is certainly an exciting opportunity to investigate. We will make sure we ask all of the right questions and get all the answers we need to decide.”
Potential transit service
Mayor Jones suggested that the council move forward and take the idea of a public transit service to the next stage of the investigation. She said it is now a matter of getting some experts to help the town establish how this can work, and to examine costs and route plans before bringing the information back to the council.
She suggested they acquire help from a third party in establishing feasible routes. Mayor Jones stated that there is no intention to fully fund this through taxpayer dollars.
“We may have to draw some small funds from it but ideally this system would pay for itself,” she said, noting the town would look at alternative ways to fund bus purchases.
The town sent a survey with approximately 550 responses, initially estimating usage in the hundreds.
“Not having anything right now is a challenge for community members,” she said.
Council recommended that staff explore hiring a third-party company to investigate costs and return to council with the data.
In initial discussions, Mayor Jones said community stakeholders include McCain Foods, which suggested there could be a run between Woodstock and Florenceville for McCain staff.
Planet Youth Council
Mayor Jones attended the first meeting held to initiate the development of the youth council’s constitution. She said it was a fun conversation with them, and the group is off to a good start. They are hoping to kick it off in the next school year.
Swim Survive Program
The town has been approached about swimming lessons for 44 students from Canterbury.
CAO Allan Walker said the plan is to teach a program called Swim Survive, developed by the Canadian Swim Association. The program teaches basic survival swimming skills.
“It is a nice, new addition that can be done at no extra cost to the town and it will generate a good revenue. It will introduce a lot of kids to water safety, which is really important, especially living along the river,” said Walker.
He said the school swim programs use the pool pretty consistently during the day.
WHS Soccer Field
While the Anglophone School District West owns and manages Woodstock High School, the space has traditionally been maintained by the town’s recreation staff. The municipality has maintained the lawn for years, keeping the turf healthy and lining the field. It has been decided to hand that job back to the district. It was noted that the town would continue to operate and maintain the mini-soccer field.
Second batting cage for Connell Park
Connell Park will have a second batting cage this summer. The Director of Recreation was approached with an offer from a donor to fund a second batting cage. The first batting cage is heavily used, resulting in a demand for a second one. The donor will cover all costs, with a total price tag of $36,000. The town will cover the cost of preparing the gravel pad for the cage, which will be $2,000 for the time of Public Works employees and $2,500 for the gravel.
Council congratulates local reporter on retirement
Mayor Trina Jones opened the meeting by letting council members know that Jim Dumville, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter for the River Valley Sun, has retired.
“He will certainly be missed. Jim spent many evenings with us and some long nights,” said Jones. The mayor noted Dumville’s significant contribution to the community, sharing news from the council and the community.
“He’s been serving in the media news world for a long time. Decades. We will certainly miss seeing Jim and we thank him for all of his contributions. We wish him the best.”
