Community volunteers in Feversham are committed to continuing to maintain their local park/green space.
Kimberley Briggs of the Feversham Park Committee, appeared as a delegation at the Grey Highlands council meeting on August 16. Briggs said the committee, with the support of local volunteers and the Feversham Kinsmen club, would like to establish a formal memorandum of understanding on the park with the municipality.
Briggs said the community’s volunteers are committed to continue looking after the park and working to make improvements to the property. Briggs outlined the long history of the park, the community work and fundraising done over the years and enhancements and changes made at the park in recent years.
“A park like ours provides children and teens a safe place to socialize,” she said. “With the support of the Feversham Kinsmen, we will continue to maintain and improve this incredible park.”
Briggs said recent council deliberations on the community’s recreation master plan and the municipality’s plans to look at the number of ballparks that it maintains have created concerns in the community about the future of the park and resulted in the request for the memorandum.
“We’d very much like to be the guiding voice on any decisions made,” she said. “I wanted you to officially have the volunteer’s perspective. I don’t think we want anything to change, we have an excellent relationship with (municipal) staff.”
Briggs said the goal is to keep the park open for all to use.
“Our primary objective is: keep it free, keep it open use - spontaneous use,” she said. “It is so beloved.”
She said local volunteers have a number of park upgrade projects in mind to undertake in the near future. They include: resurfacing the concrete pad, painting sports lines on the pad, upgrading the basketball hoops, improving the pavilion and adding horse tie-ups for the members of the Mennonite community who often use the park. She said there is plenty of support from local residents and businesses to raise funds for the various projects.
Deputy Mayor Dane Nielsen said there is a misconception in the community about council’s recreation master plan deliberations on the future of local ballparks.
“It doesn’t suggest removing what exists,” said Nielson, who said the conversation is more about whether or not to upgrade some ballparks to a more competitive class status.
Council voted to receive the delegation, but did not take any other action on the matter.
