City of Brantford Council unanimously voted in favour of putting a long-awaited splash pad in Princess Anne Park during a Special City Council meeting on Tuesday, January 14, 2024.
Despite $1,000,000 in funding for the park’s splash pad being removed from the 2025 Operating and Capital Budget, officially released earlier this month, Ward 1 Councillors Michael Sullivan and Rose Sicoli were able to find another solution for the area residents.
Sullivan had attempted to move an amendment to add the splash pad back into the budget during a City Council meeting on Tuesday, December 17, 2024, however due to funding constraints and the prioritization of other projects, the amendment lost on a vote of 4-6.
Sullivan once again reintroduced his amendment, this time pitching that the City finance the project from its Capital Reserve Fund, specifically the Canada Community-Building Fund reserve.
“Old West Brant as we know it, has been waiting 15 years for the splash pad and this will also give them the ability to have their outdoor hockey rink,” said Sullivan. “The biggest factor is this will not affect the bottom line when coming through capital reserves, so it will have no bearing on the property taxes.”
Joelle Daniels, Brantford’s Commissioner of Corporate Services and City Treasurer, confirmed to council that there was surplus funding available in the reserve from other City projects that had come in under budget, and Sicoli asked that her fellow councillors vote in favour of redirecting the money to the Princess Anne Park splash pad.
“Since we made our decision at the estimates committee that this was going to be removed, I can’t even express to you the number of emails and phone calls that I received from constituents in the area,” said Sicoli. “They were really, really looking forward to this and I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t sit up here and beg and plead with everyone making these decisions, to allow this neighbourhood to have this splash pad put in. They really do need it and there’s no cost that’s going to be rolled out to everybody, so I do hope that we’ll have your support today.”
When asked how much the splash pad would cost, Daniels later told Councillor Linda Hunt that it would likely cost around $750,000.
Keeping all the details in mind, Councillor Richard Carpenter said he would be supporting the amendment wholeheartedly, adding that the residents nearby have been waiting for a splash pad for a long time.
“The Helen Avenue apartments are right across from this park and if you live there, you have to pay extra for your air conditioning unit; some of the families there are living on modest incomes and it’s very difficult,” said Carpenter. “There’s a lot of families and children living in this area and there’s very little of anything in Princess Anne Park. This splash pad has been required for a long time and it’s been overlooked. …I will be supporting this wholeheartedly, it’s something that should be a priority.”
Ward 5 Councillors, Brian Van Tilborg and Mandy Samwell, both mentioned that as representatives of a community that advocated to have a splash pad in Tutela Park, they would also be voting in favour for the amendment.
“I want to thank Councillor Sullivan for his persistence and the people in West Brant in the area of the park, for strongly voicing their opinions,” said Van Tilborg. “…This is due, it’s well-deserved, it’s well-needed and it’s money well spent. I think when people think of us as spending their tax money, there’s got to be a tangible benefit that they can see, and there’s going to be a whole group of kids that are going to feel the benefit of that splash pad going into that area.”
Later, Mayor Kevin Davis took the opportunity to voice his thoughts on the matter.
“This is an area of the city that, in terms of the public facilities and amenities, justly feels somewhat left out in terms of the decision making that’s gone on around the last ten to 15 years. There is a vibrant community of young families there and they would certainly make good use of this splash pad and it is something that has been promised for a long time,” said Davis. “The difficulty in putting this into the Mayor’s budget was that it was going to generate probably a half-point increase in property taxes, taking the total increase to well past six per cent.”
He said through the ‘excellent efforts of staff being mindful and using money responsibly, there have been a couple of cost savings from other projects we can use for this,” and thanked the public for reminding him “of long outstanding promises that have been made to this neighbourhood.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
