The ownership of Parkland Hall and lot is to be transferred from the city to the PAGC in return for the Angus Merasty School lands.(Agenda package/City of P.A.)

By Glenn Hicks

land deal

P.A. agrees to land-swap deal with PAGC for Parkland Hall

Jun 11, 2019 | 8:37 AM

After bitter debate among councillors and impassioned calls from some concerned citizens, Prince Albert city council has approved a land swap deal with the Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC).

It will see the PAGC acquire the neglected Parkland Hall recreation centre and land on Ninth Ave. W., with the aim of improving the facility, especially for recreational programming for West Flat youth. In return, the city will acquire the abandoned Angus Merasty School and land on Fifth Ave. W., with the intention of demolishing the building and developing part of the land. The amount of green space that is to be preserved is yet to be established.

The narrow majority who approved the swap in a 5-4 decision believe it will be of benefit to the whole community and the PAGC has promised to maintain seniors and day care elements. PAGC will also upgrade the site including improvements to the playground, a pickle ball court, a picnic area, youth garden, mini soccer field, expanded parking and fencing. The naming rights for the new skate park there will remain with local philanthropist Malcolm Jenkins.

The PAGC has a number of improvements planned for Parkland Hall and the surrounding recreational space.(Agenda package/City of P.A.)

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The four councillors who opposed the move are worried there are no guarantees about continued community services or that the facility will remain fully accessible to the general public in perpetuity.

Community concerns

Two hours of intense discussion on the matter Monday night started with concerns raised by citizens regarding the future of community services at Parkland Hall and how there appeared to be no assurances that seniors and day care programs would remain in place long-term. Also, there were complaints the deal had been kept from the wider public until just a few weeks ago at best.

According to Chrissy Haliday, two community meetings she went to, one in Ward 1 on May 28 and another in Ward 8 on June 6, told very different stories.

“In Ward 1 we were not told Parkland Hall was to be part of a land deal while in Ward 8 that was very upfront,” she claimed. ”This agreement was already voted on at PAGC on March 14 and written up by the city May 1. There should have been public input before this agreement.”

Meanwhile, well known Métis-personality Donny Parenteau called on council to work with him on a fundraiser to help resolve the financial problems at the struggling facility.

“I am West Flat,” he said, personifying himself to the area. “And Parkland Community Hall has always been there for the people of the West Flat,” he said, remembering the great names who had played at the rink in the past. “I am once again offering to put on an event as I did back in 2008 to save it.”

Al Ducharme, the executive director of the PAGC, was invited to speak. He told council the improved facility would have key programming for kids such as their youth-engagement strategy to help them avoid a life of gang activity.

“We’ll put together a series of activities, counselling, therapy, leadership and discussing the challenges kids have,” he said. “And this will be a great summer and winter facility where kids can learn and be active.”

We’ve been failing the kids and the community _{– Blake Edwards}

Several city councillors bemoaned what they saw as a lack of proper public process in the creation of the deal and how the final documents only came to them late last week, effectively giving them just five days before having to make a decision.

Land deals are private by nature

However, Mayor Greg Dionne and city manager Jim Toye said that was the nature of land deals; they often need to be kept private as a multitude of elements were still being thrashed out before a final deal could be brought to council.

Ward 6 Coun. Blake Edwards was among the five lawmakers who saw the deal as a win-win in the community for a facility that had seen better days.

“This isn’t a funding issue, this is an operational issue,” he said. “No one stepped forward when it went out for tender, or had plans [that could work]. Now we have an opportunity for the community to better itself. Over the last few years we’ve been failing the kids and the community.”

As for the city’s acquisition of the PAGC’s Angus Merasty School and property, the exact costs facing the taxpayers for preparing that land for future development is not clear. The demolition of the building will be around $350,000, according to the city manager, but any asbestos removal will be up to PAGC. Other infrastructure costs weren’t clear because the scope of residential development hasn’t been decided. However, PAGC will be paid 10 per cent on revenue earned by the city on future lot sales.

The full demolition cost to taxpayers for the Angus Merasty School is not known but the agreement makes the PAGC responsible for the removal of asbestos.(Agenda package/City of P.A.)

After Monday night’s contentious vote, Ward 2 Coun. Terra Lennox-Zepp said she was shocked by the sudden rush.

“The public had five days of having this public information available, “she said. “When a proposal is a good one we are not afraid of the public …we welcome public input, but in this case we did a very poor job at that.” She said it was shocking council should vote to give up a public facility and land without knowing the full value of both parcels that were part of the deal.

I think we’ll gain everyone’s trust _{– Al Ducharme, PAGC}

Dionne said everything that’s done on land deals is done ‘in camera’ to avoid speculators or leaks. However, he insisted Parkland Hall would remain open and accessible to public community groups once in the hands of the PAGC.

Assurances to the general public

“It won’t be lost because we’re going to watch them,” he said. “We live here, we attend events there. If it’s going awry we’ll bring it up…but for seniors, [the PAGC] also wants to have rentals. They’re going to continue with that.”

Dionne figured the new owners would “show everybody wrong” and work even harder to prove the doubters wrong.

After the vote, the PAGC’s Al Ducharme said they were committed to retaining community services for seniors and others at the facility.

“We intend to show that through the leadership of the Grand Council,” he said. “We intend to do that with the advice of the city council, and the advice of all the people who live in the West Flat, not just the First Nation and Metis,” he said. “We will look after everyone, we will do our best. I think we’ll gain everyone’s trust.”

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow