Dear Editor,
Re: Centennial Field replacement delayed
There are many comments made in that article and previous articles that lead to a trend that somewhat disturbs me.
The trend is 鈥渓et鈥檚 reduce maintenance so we can have a bigger, more hip, more sexy replacement instead.鈥�
The town is not the only public body behaving that way and the grant structure from the feds and province are such that replacement becomes preferable.
Earlier this year I wrote a letter to the municipality and Grande Yellowhead Public School Division about the shortfalls in the maintenance of the schoolyard. We have one yard for three schools, let鈥檚 look after it!
Many years ago, the yard was sodded and a sprinkler system was installed. With maintenance it was a great yard, now it needs major work.
It seems the same approach was given to the soccer pitch.
Grass turf is a very versatile and durable surface, but it must be maintained. Watering, fertilizing, and top dressing are necessary. I have not seen that on the soccer pitch. The ball diamonds look great, so why can鈥檛 we give the same attention to the other two surfaces?
The picnic area at Centennial Park also needs attention. I was there recently and it looks like nothing has been done there for quite some time.
Like I indicated earlier, other governments are guilty of this also. For example, the feds cut back on 鈥渃rack sealing鈥� of the asphalt on our highways. Consequently more repaving is now required.
I could go on, but I just want to make the point that this is not how we look after our own personal property; so why is this happening to our private facilities?
To have a town manager tell me 鈥渢here鈥檚 no money in the budget鈥� indicates that the manager has not taken the leadership to review and implement an aggressive maintenance option.
I would like to suggest that council consider taking some leadership and direct administration to have a good hard look at that option.
Bert Journault
Jasper, Alta.
