A pathway connecting Black Diamond’s southwest side will go ahead, despite protests from the Town’s mayor and one council member that the project is not a necessity.
In November, Black Diamond Town council approved the use of a Canada 150 grant to cover half of the $156,594 needed to build a 500-metre long asphalt pathway connecting 5th Street SW to the river pathway.
Mayor Glen Fagan and Coun. Brian Marconi were not in favour of the town spending over $78,000 for the pathway.
“We’ve got a lot of people barely surviving in this town because of lost jobs,” said Marconi. “I think a pathway is a very luxury item in this day and age for this town to do that. I can’t support this.”
Marconi was elected in a September byelection and was not on council when administration was directed to apply for the grant.
He suggested the project be delayed until the economy is in better shape or that a society be formed to raise money for pathways.
Sharlene Brown, chief administrative officer, said the Town’s portion of the cost comes from the $146,000 the town earned from selling land on 1st Street SE that was previously used as a municipal park before it became a community garden. The garden has since been established in another part of town.
“If you sell municipal land, according to the MGA (Municipal Government Act), you have to put that money away for that exact purpose,” she said. “The proceeds of that sale had to be used for municipal recreational purposes.”
Brown said pathways became a focus for the Town when the Trails and Pathway Master Plan was established in 2006, but projects were put off with each year’s budget.
“Incrementally we were supposed to be building these particular pathways,” she said. “Unfortunately, recreation and public amenities were the first pieces that were cut.”
Brown said approval of the Canada 150 grant is a chance for the Town to tackle one of those projects.
“We have the opportunity to have a project that’s been sitting and waiting for 10 years,” she said. “Being the sesquicentennial year and having projects that come forward from there we have a great opportunity to have a pathway.”
The trail will connect the existing pathway on the berm along the Sheep River west of the Bob Lochhead Memorial Campground to the Riverwood community, said Brown.
“Connecting areas of town is really important,” she said. “The people that live in Willow Ridge and Riverwood can be connected to other areas of town via a pathway and not just streets. It will be a great connecting point and amenity for our community.”
Coun. Ruth Goodwin said the Town is behind on the building of pathways and it’s time to get moving.
“To have the funding available to match grants to be able to do a section of these pathways is really important,” she told council. “The amount of time it takes to raise money, we don’t have that luxury at this point to put a society or group together to be able to fill the grant timeline that we have.”
Coun. Mike Ross said a pathway is the best way to invest in parks and recreation because it is used by residents and visitors of all ages.
“The percentage of people that are served by a pathway has the potential to be way more than any kind of fitness you can have or any rink improvement you could make,” he said. “If you are concerned about people getting the bang for their buck the pathway is the way to go.”
Mayor Glen Fagan said he supports the construction of pathways in Black Diamond, but this isn’t the way to do it.
“For a community to pay for it out of their tax structure, doesn’t matter if it comes for reserves when the community spoke very strongly about not spending that kind of money,” he said, referring to comments the Concerned Taxpayers Group of Black Diamond brought to council last year about spending taxpayers’ money.
The new pathway will be constructed before Canada Day, in honour of Canada’s 150th anniversary.
