Bonnyville Town Council has always placed a heavy emphasis on educating local youth and last week they took another step towards doing just that, hosting a special council meeting for Grade 6 students at Dr. Brosseau School.
The gathering marked the second consecutive year that council had participated in a special meeting at the school and Mayor Gene Sobolewski brought a full compliment of local councillors as well as members of the municipality's administrative staff along for a discussion on Bonnyville's outdated skate park.
“What we're attempting to do in coming out here (and participated in a special council meeting at school) is to bring government right to the doorsteps of these students, show them the procedures involved (in a council meeting), what protocols we have to follow and everything else surrounding how and why we make decisions,” Sobolewski told the Nouvelle.
“These kids are learning about local government in school right now, so I think it's important we come out and participate.”
A collection of roughly 50 Grade 6 students had the opportunity to provide input on what they think the Town should do with it's skateboard park, located beside the Centennial Centre.
Initially constructed back in 2008, the municipality has received several complaints over the course of the past year from locals claiming the current skate park facility is “boring” and “outdated.”
“I'm 50 years old, I've never been on a scooter, rarely have I ever been on a skateboard, even when I was at the right age for it, so I'm not the guy to say here's what should or shouldn't be done with the park,” Sobolewski said. “That's for the kids, those that use the facility to decide.”
Several students voiced their opinion on what they'd like to see done at the site, with some hoping to see the Town construct an indoor facility, so the park can be used all year round. Others requested the municipality extend the park to include larger, more difficult jumps and half pipes.
While most of the kids in attendance seemed to be in favour of the upgrades, there were those that sat back to consider some of the consequences or impacts putting money into the skate park could have on other projects within the municipality.
One student asked council why they were considering investing money into a site that is “always vandalized” instead committing funds to upgrade the local swimming pool, while another wondered if municipal taxes would go up if council dedicated funds to the skate park.
Following some discussion amongst council, Ray Prevost made a motion to give Town administration permission to conduct a study regarding how the municipality should go about investing into the site.
“I like the approach that administration will conduct the study, that will drop the cost of this endeavor considerably and should see we have results (sooner rather than later),” Prevost said. “I fully believe the skate park is in exactly the right place there at the Centennial Centre, it just needs to be expanded a little bit.”
Following the conclusion of the meeting, students gathered around Sobolewski to continue the discussion. Looking on, principal at Dr. Brosseau Vince Spila said he felt the meeting meant a lot to the students in attendance.
“In the Grade 6 curriculum we talk about local government and so we thought it would be great to have our Town Council come in. It gives the kids the chance to meet the Mayor and council and allows them to talk to them and find out (how things work in Bonnyville),” Spila said.
“Talking about the skate park today, this is an issue some of these kids are really passionate about. They were exciting to talk about it and I was really impressed with some of the comments and questions our students posed. I think they took a lot out of this.”
Speaking to the Nouvelle following the meeting, Sobolewski said he was delighted with how the special meeting went, paying homage to what he described as “a great group of kids who brought a wealth of ideas and thoughts to the table.”
“It really was fantastic. These kids have a different perspective on things since they're the ones out there in the real world making use of the facility. They had some great comments and even better questions,” Sobolewski said.
The overwhelming message council took away with them, at least according to Sobolewski, was simple.
“All we heard, over and over again, was that the current skate park is boring,” he said. “Those are the kind of honest comments we need to hear.”
Administration will now undertake a skate park study before the issue is brought back before council for further discussion later this year.
