Residents throughout the area are being asked to fill out a survey about recreation, which will help guide the Town of St. Paul, Town of Elk Point, Village of Horseshoe Bay, and County of St. Paul as it moves forward with a recreation study.
The same survey is being sent out to residents in all four municipalities, and started arriving in people’s homes this week.
“The survey is part of a regional management plan,” explains Robert Simons, the St. Paul Aquatic Centre manager. “We need to know what people see as important to them.”
The municipalities recognize that recreation is a significant contributor to quality of life in the region. Recreation encompasses sports, parks, arts and culture, leisure pursuits, and the natural setting, reads a media release from the municipalities.
In order to make decisions about recreation, and set priorities, the St. Paul-Elk Point-Regional Partnership is taking on the development of a Recreation Services Master Plan.
A provincial Community Partnership Grant worth $105,000 was accessed for the project.
“The Master Plan will assess the current state and identify priorities and recommendations regarding the provision of recreation facilities, active lifestyle and social gathering opportunities, and recreation services to meet the needs of residents and visitors into the future,” reads the media release.
Consultation with the community is viewed as a critical piece to develop the Master Plan. The survey is viewed as an important way to gather information from residents.
“There will be questions about what people do in recreation but also how they think recreation should be funded. Do people want it supported more by tax increases? Do people want it funded more through user fees?” says Simons.
The results from the survey will be used by each of the municipalities to prioritize what needs to be addressed.
“For example, if everyone in county/town/Elk Point is saying a 60-foot climbing wall is really needed, then all the groups will discuss how to make that possible. Hopefully this will really allow all these regional groups to start working together to fill community needs,” says Simons.
He adds that the survey is only part of the gathering of information that will take place.
“We will also be sending a survey to recreation groups, talking to stakeholders and community leaders, and going through a ton of information and data. We will be looking at age of recreation buildings, demographics, census data, utilization of facilities (and more).”
