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Skate park loan approved

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ST. PAUL - Bylaw 2020-01, which is a bylaw authorizing a loan for the St. Paul BMX and Skate Park being built along 53rd Avenue, was passed on Feb. 24 by Town of St. Paul councillors.

At 7:30 p.m. on the same night, a public hearing was held to allow for people to speak in favour of the bylaw, or against the bylaw. The $145,000 loan was requested by the skate park society to allow for bills to be cleared up and construction to wrap up in the spring, while fundraising initiatives continue to take place.

As of Feb. 24, it was noted that about $10,000 had already been collected by the society since the request was made, which will be put against the loan, upon third reading of the bylaw. The total cost of the project, including work in kind, is about $890,000.

Speaking in favour of the loan Monday night was Dan Reid, who has been at the head of the skate park project since it began. He explained the group continues to work on gathering donations for the park. Reid also noted that from the information he’s received, similar parks built in Alberta have been supported primarily by municipal funds.

He acknowledged the support shown by the town, and noted that overall, about 25 per cent of the project has been covered by municipal support. The remaining 75 per cent has been fundraised by volunteers, along with grants being received.

Also speaking in favour of the skate park was town resident Jeremy Yaremchuk. He said as a father of three young kids, he’s excited to have a new skate park to bring them to. He acknowledged Reid for the time he’s dedicated to the project.

“It’s an open place for kids to go out and be kids,” said Yaremchuk.

Linda Sallstrom also spoke in favour of the park as a “community member.” She commended volunteers for the “incredible work” that has gone into the project and hopes to see more projects like this done in the community.

Mayor Maureen Miller applauded the skate park society for seeing the project through. She noted that many facilities in St. Paul were founded on the work of volunteers, such as the soccer fields and the CAP Arena.

“It takes a passion - someone to do something,” said Miller.

Following third reading of the bylaw, which was amended slightly to correct the physical location of the skate park, CAO Kim Heyman noted that while there were plenty of comments made on social media regarding the bylaw, those comments were not taken into consideration during the public hearing.

Due to people having security features on their social media accounts, and the inability to verify who a person really is, Town of St. Paul administration did not feel it was an appropriate means to communicate, said Heyman.

“It’s just too inconsistent.”

No one in attendance spoke against the bylaw.


Janice Huser

About the Author: Janice Huser

Janice Huser has been with the St. Paul Journal since 2006. She is a graduate of the SAIT print media journalism program, is originally from St. Paul and has a passion for photography.
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