Park lights approved by Council

by Colin Smith

St. Jean Baptiste Park, Town Hall and the Morinville Leisure Centre will be adorned with decorative lights through repurposing unused funds.

At its October 22 regular meeting, Town Council approved the Administration recommendation for the lights, to be installed for $17,000.

Administration has been exploring visually enhancing St. Jean Baptiste (SJB) Park, Town Hall, and the Morinville Leisure Centre with decorative lights for ornamental purposes that could be used throughout the year.

The lights will mainly be white so they can be used all year long, with other elements to be added for holiday seasons and Town events such as the Light Up the Night Festival.

The new lights primarily will outline the Town Hall and Leisure Centre buildings.

St. Jean Baptiste Park will see a new phase of lights along its central trail. These lights are to be white, with the exception of a blue set on 100 Avenue to complete the look of the other blue lights along the road.

“It’s something that could attract people who come to town,” said Deputy Mayor Scott Richardson. “I really think it is something that is hopefully going to revitalize and bring people to the downtown core.

Councillor Stephen Dafoe noted that the lights will also enhance safety for trail users.

According to Administration information, the cost will be covered by repurposing funds originally budgeted and set aside for the Visitor Information Centre contract with the Morinville Chamber of Commerce tourism area.

These funds were aside for promotion and potential leverage/partnerships with other groups for the specific benefit of the Town.

However, no potential partners were located and there were no formal proposals for use of the funds.

A Morinville-area supplier has been found who can complete installation work before the December holiday season.

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11 Comments

  1. Seriously? We have crumbling curbs, sidewalks & potholes that need to be given a wide berth on Morinville’s streets, (Hwy 642 is an altogether different mess)solar pedestrian crosswalks desperately required & this is what is needed? Could “unused money” be used a bit more wisely than lighting up Town Hall, & the Leisure Center? Drawing people to town???? You’re starting to pile it deep now! Our taxes went up, yet you have “unused money” which, we the citizens, paid to the town to use wisely….”unused money” for unnecessary lighting is not a wise use in my opinion. Common sense & practical use of our dollars is more of a priority than fancy lights for public buildings & green spaces. Cost overruns on the new Town Hall & a very expensive Leisure Center, without a pool, are not priorities for “unused money.” After this year’s tax increases & projected increases for years to come,I personally, no longer have ANY “unused money” to allocate for nonsense. It may seem like a trivial amount to our town council but it surely can be put to better use than this!

    • Katherine Mary-Ellen the leisure center entrance needs lighting when you go at 6 am you cannot see the entrance as it’s so dark. But otherwise I agree with you.

    • Terrie MacLean As per the article these lights will be strung onto the buildings so I think this will not address the lack of lighting for the entrance to the Leisure Center….that is another issue altogether.

  2. What the f…?!?! Unused funds?? Feel free to fix the giant cave under the road by my house before adorning anything with decorative lights… or is the cone you put in the hole good enough..?

  3. Another example of why our taxes keep going up. Perhaps unused funds will also pay for councils raises. Better idea is to use the magical unused funds in place of tax increases.

  4. So let me see if I have this right. Taxes are going up again for 2020. Councillors got a raise. The Town has unused funds. A few pretty lights are going to attract new people to town and…a contract has been given to an unnamed contractor to install said lights. First of all lights ain’t gunna do the trick. A proper planning of “unused” funds would be to fix what’s wrong first. Roads, curbs and sidewalks are in deplorable shape. Install proper pedestrian crosswalk lights on Main Street (642) so people don’t have to guess if someone like a child going to school doesn’t get hit. 100 street is a joke and with all the development going on south of the tracks you can’t get back on the street without using private property as a turn around. There is more but…

  5. Only been complaining about our flooded side walk every spring since 2016 when we moved in.. but yeah use the “unused funds” for fancy lights 🤦🏻‍♀️😡

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