(Elliott Knopp/meadowlakeNOW staff)

By Elliott Knopp

Parks and Rec Upgrades

M.L. parks and recreation department improving tennis courts, garbage cans

Jan 28, 2022 | 4:11 PM

The City of Meadow Lake has approved two spending items that will enhance the City’s parks and recreation.

During Monday’s budget meeting, council agreed to add more than $10,000 in capital spending on new garbage and recycling cans to replace the current units available.

As mentioned in the request filed to council, parks and recreation Manager Regan Beck stated the outdated units in Lions Park are frequently preyed on by wildlife, and the animals spread the garbage around the land.

The new units are designed to prevent animals like bears and birds from entering the receptacles and accessing the items inside.

This is the second year of the three-year garbage can replacement project in the city, and next year will see the units in the downtown core be replaced to complete the project.

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Beck stated while the investment may not seem significant, the impact of the enhancements will speak for itself.

“It doesn’t seem like a big upgrade necessarily, but it makes a big difference in how clean we can keep everything,” he said.

“It just doesn’t look the way that we’d like our community to be portrayed, so it’s a chance to get started on that.”

The City is also investing into the tennis courts. The upcoming tennis season will be the first official season in which the courts will be owned and operated by the City.

In his request to council, Beck explained the windscreens currently in place are torn and worn out, and it would be in the City’s best interest to maintain a high-quality facility for the community.

“Having torn windscreens, or no windscreens, would not be a great first impression and will cause for lower quality of play, and possibly contribute to less use of the court,” he stated.

“The tennis court windscreens are ripped and worn… and do not stay up. This year, we attached numerous zip ties in the hopes of keeping the netting up, but this caused additional ripping.”

He added the investment is another indication of the department’s commitment to improving recreation in the community and increasing the utilization of all facilities.

“By no means do we want to take over the tennis court, take a step back, and then lose some of longstanding clients we already have there,” he explained.

“I know it wasn’t easy for the Tennis Association to step back after all those strong years of service for the community, and we want to show we are going to keep working hard to improve not only tennis, but at some point, I think you’ll see more of a pickleball presence in there as well.”

The cost of replacement is estimated at almost $7,500. The item was added to the City’s 2022 capital budget.

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elliott.knopp@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @ElliottKnopp