“We’re seeing a lot of stress in families, a lot of stress and anxiety in the kids and the youth,” he told
paNOW Monday. “What can we do in a cost-effective way to get the kids active and outside in a COVID-safe way?”
In December, council unanimously passed a motion asking each city department to submit ideas for what more the city could do for families during the pandemic.
On Monday night, city administration returned with a comprehensive list of existing recreation amenities and activities available to residents during the pandemic.
Zurakowski expressed disappointment.
“Don’t get me wrong I appreciate the effort that was made… but that wasn’t the motion, that wasn’t the purpose,” he told the meeting, questioning why no new ideas were submitted.
Prince Albert City Council has boosted funding to community clubs in the hope the facilities can open the usual amount of outdoor ice surfaces with normal hours amid a particularly difficult year.
Director of Community Services Jody Boulet, told council the volunteer-run clubs are facing challenges operating because of COVID-19. He explained rinks now require supervision to ensure provincial COVID-19 guidelines are adhered to. There are also additional cleaning costs, at the same time revenue from indoor ice rentals has decreased.
In response, council voted to up the 2021 budget for community clubs by $20,000 to $396,960 during Thursday’s budget deliberations. The extra $20,000 will come from COVID-19 relief money given to the city by the provincial and federal governments.
They may not like the price-tag, but Prince Albert city councillors have voted unanimously to buy a new audiovisual system for the council chamber.
The updated system, which will cost up to $140,000, will allow meetings to be live-streamed online and facilitate video and teleconferencing. New video projectors, a new sound system and a control system to simplify queing and voting are also part of the package.
Coun. Ted Zurakowski told council he believed some parts of the project were necessary, but repeated concerns about the cost. He added he hoped tenders would come in at a competitive price.
“One-hundred-forty-thousand dollars. That’s a splash park, that’s a playground… We’re going to spend that money in this room, instead of out there in the community,” he said. “And that’s my concern.”
Municipalities of Saskatchewan President Gordon Barnhart said both he and the administration of his organization gave updates on their advocacy work over the past year, and what issues and discussions have been taking place at the board level. Community representatives all got to introduce themselves and talk about what is going on in their communities. Barnhart said he was impressed at the number of communities working on renewal projects for their sewer and water or water treatment plants and wastewater lagoons. This is a big issue province-wide for communities no matter the size, he said. “About 60 years ago all of these communities put those systems in, and they re now needing to be replaced. There are many communities doing that, but there are even more that need to do it and they haven t yet gotten a grant from the government and they can’t afford to do it individually.”