East Zorra-Tavistock committee has three asks for 2025 budget

Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

East Zorra-Tavistock’s (EZT) recreation advisory committee (RAC) has approved three motions the township will be considering during its budget deliberations in the new year.

Outgoing committee chair Kyle Smith, a community member, said the recent meeting was a positive one to wrap up 2024.

“During the meeting, we talked about our next steps and goals for 2025. Everyone around the table all agreed we should focus on finding ways to make communication better and more informative to get the word out to the public about activities,” he said.

While the committee has no decision-making power, it did agree to send three motions to council for consideration in the 2025 five-year capital budget. The first was the exploration of a multi-use recreational facility and the second is a spray pad in Innerkip.

“Based on the same process that was used to develop the Tavistock spray pad,” Smith clarified.

That process didn’t include any township funding but was paid for through an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant and local fundraising.

The final request looked to the township to consider including municipally coordinated recreational programs and activities in the 2025 budget.

Smith said the committee would like feedback from residents on what they are looking for.

“What does that look like from the standpoint of activities but also ways that it gets delivered?” he asked. “Something we also talked about was engaging the community on what are people’s wants and needs from a programming standpoint.”

Four RAC meetings have been scheduled for next year – March 26, June 11, Sept. 10 and Dec. 10. They will all take place in Hickson at the EZT office and begin at 7 p.m.

Smith is now the RAC’s vice chair with Coun. Matthew Gillespie being nominated for the chair role. Gillespie did not attend the last meeting so he will be confirmed as chair in March.

Will Jacques is the township’s community and recreation services manager and explained a change in outdoor ice may also be coming.

“We discussed that with the changing weather patterns and warmer spells occurring more frequently in December, the outdoor rinks in Tavistock, Hickson and Innerkip could be considered for ice preparation by volunteer groups after Jan. 1.”

He said he hopes the move will provide a better opportunity for longer cold stretches and better success for ice to be made. 

“If there is no ice in the pavilions where the rinks are made, residents can use the pavilions for other purposes in December as well.”