LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
Village council will be pursuing more community consultation in the wake of a public meeting where some community members questioned plans for a new fitness centre.

Councillors for the village sat at a table facing the audience while Mayor Darlene Sibbeston, not pictured, introduced each topic. Councillors Chuck Blyth, left, Marie Lafferty, Liza McPherson and Bob Hanna were present for the meeting. - April Hudson/NNSL photo

The two-storey fitness centre is proposed to be built in the unfinished space next to the community swimming pool, in the same building.

The centre would include weightlifting areas, a mat room for activities such as aerobics or judo, and an atrium, among other things.

The village launched a survey in December to gather community input. Senior administrative officer Beth Jumbo said around 73 community members responded to say they would use a fitness centre more than three times per week.

Community member Pat Rowe said he would like to see a cost analysis done before the village proceeds. He also questioned whether such a large capital investment would see enough use from residents.

"It's probably good for Simpson ... (but) you can't make an informed decision on just saying, 'Should we have a fitness centre?'," Rowe said.

"If we build this thing for a couple million bucks and three people use it ... that's a big expense."

The village currently has access to $1.7 million in funding through the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, which has to be spent by 2023. Jumbo confirmed the village would be accessing that pot of money for the project.

Mayor Darlene Sibbeston assured community members the project is still in the planning stages and the village "(hasn't) put ink to paper on it."

"It's something we've slated in our capital plan, just based on the comments and input we did receive already. Perhaps we didn't do enough community consultation - there's still room for that, absolutely," she said.

Meeting 'a great start'

What further community consultation might look like has not yet been decided.

Rowe said the simple fact that village council held a public meeting means they are starting on the right foot for their term.

"It's been (a long time) since one of these meetings was held, and I've got to applaud council for actually coming and doing this," he said.

"I'd like to see them do it more often, maybe on a quarterly basis."

Sibbeston said council has discussed holding two to three public meetings per year, and added she feels it necessary for the village to hold another meeting on some of the projects it has scheduled this summer.

Sibbeston said the meeting was for preliminary discussion, as the village has not yet put out a request for proposals for the community plan to be redesigned with community input.

"We're just starting that process," she said.