Rec board backtracks on dissolution decision

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By Jim Mosher
Friday October 27, 2006

WINNIPEG BEACH -- The future of the town’s recreation centre is now in the hands of the public it serves.
The rec centre board was poised to hand the keys to the town, after the board voted in favour of a proposal pitched by Coun. Pam Jackson. The rookie councillor encouraged the board to approve its own dissolution at a meeting Oct. 17. But that was to be short-lived, as the board met six days later and voted to retain control of the Hamilton Ave. centre.
Rec board president Bonnie Dykes confirmed the decision when she appeared as a delegation at council’s regular meeting the following day.
“We need more information and time to decide what is the best way to go forward with the rec centre,” Dykes told the regular monthly sitting of Beach council Tuesday evening.

She noted that the rec centre executive will meet Nov. 2 to finalize a plan for a general membership meeting to discuss the future of the recreation centre. “Hopefully, the town and the rec board can work together to come up with the best solution,” she said. “I believe Pam [Jackson], [town recreation director] Lee [Hanson] and myself have the same wish ... which is to see good recreation programming in the community.”
Dykes said a front-page story in the Spectator last week was premature. The story highlighted the board’s decision to hand the keys to the rec centre to the town. “I have no control over what stories the Spectator prints,” she said of reporter John Coward’s story. “I asked him not to run the story because it was only a proposal and all parties had not yet been informed.”
Coun. Jackson did not address the issue during the meeting. Instead, Mayor Don Pepe gave every appearance that a takeover was never in the cards.
“You need more time -- there’s no problem,” the mayor told Dykes. “There was no intent on both sides to do anything -- just what can we do to help.”
Dykes noted that there are plans afoot to offer recreation programming at the centre. “Lee and I have lots of programming we’d like to see there,” she said.
Coun. Daryl Carry, meanwhile, said later that he had no idea council had provided direction to Jackson about a town takeover of the rec centre. But chief administrative officer Marion Grogan says Jackson was encouraged to discuss the possibility of municipal control during the in-camera portion of a committee of the whole meeting Oct. 4. Carry had left that meeting early and was not privy to the discussion.