UPDATE: 2 p.m.
The city is going to take a second look at where a new splash pad should be located.
A member of the Downtown Waterfront Advisory Committee, Jay Aspin tells BayToday this afternoon that the report is going back to the Community Services Committee for more study.
"The city clerk just called me and said that recommendation has been pulled and it will be referred back to the committee. When it gets back to committee we're really going to get into it. Why does it take the city three-quarters of a million dollars to build a splash pad when Callander, just five years ago built one for a quarter of a million.
"We don't need a big monstrosity because the bigger it is the more ancillary services you have which need to be taken care of by the taxpayer. It's going back to our committee and we'll examine costs and location and they'll be fully defined and recommended by the committee."
Aspin says members will not now appear at tonight's council meeting.
-----
Original story:
It appears that four members appointed to look into a splash pad have been ignored by city staff.
The staff report recommends the pad be located behind the Discovery North Bay Museum, which ignores the committee of four North Bay citizens assigned to the task to represent the public. It's chaired by Mayor Al McDonald.
See: Staff report 'skewed' says committee member (North Bay splash pad construction likely next summer)
The report goes to council tonight and two members of the committee say they'll address councillors to "set the record straight."
"The recommendation prepared by the administration is directly opposite the consensus of the committee," Jay Aspin told BayToday. "If they put four people on the committee to get the public feel, why would they do that?"
"It's a 180 from what we've recommended. That's not the location we advocated. A splash pool works better beside a lake and the problem with it beside the museum is you're going to have two infrastructures. You don't just put in the pool. You put in dressing rooms, washrooms, all those facilities. So if you have it behind the museum you have to build all that.
"We've got washrooms down by the lake that just need an upgrade. So the museum location will basically double the cost to the taxpayer. So that's the major thing right there.
"When families go to the lake they go to swim. The little ones go in the splash pool the bigger ones go in the lake. It's a family affair. You won't have that with the museum."
The staff report has been taken down from the city website and is no longer available for public viewing.
