Council, committees at odds over sliding hill

To slide or not to slide? That was the question posed during Monday night’s council meeting–and one that was never really answered.
Youngsters (and their parents) will be sliding in a non-designated area if they use their toboggans, crazy carpets, and GT racers on the overpass near Bayview Avenue the rest of this winter.
But just what that means appears to be sketchy.
The resolution passed by council Monday night confirmed the hill is not a sliding hill but it does not actually prohibit sliding there.
“What it means at this stage is signs are posted and it is not a designated sledding area and people can take that as they may,” Operations and Facilities manager Pat Hickerson noted Tuesday.
In fact, some councillors and Civic Centre administration admitted they, or their children, have used the hill themselves over the years.
Coun. Struchan Gilson noted the hill is a “great” sliding area, and that parked cars should be banned to make the area safer. Still, he later voted in favour of making the hill not a designated sliding area.
“It seems to me people are going to slide on that hill anyway, it’s a great place. If I lived there, I’d slide there so why don’t we make it as safe as we can,” Coun. Gilson said before the vote.
With no consequences for sliding on the hill, the outcome of council’s decision may have little impact. But there was quite a bit of debate over the issue leading up to the vote.
Throughout the discussion, councillors endorsed sledding, suggested making sledding safer at the overpass, and admitted sledders will be there regardless of any designation–then they proceeded to vote 5-2 against endorsing the site as a place to slide.
Only Mayor Glenn Witherspoon and Coun. Neil Kabel voted against the motion.
“We don’t have very many recreation areas and I think kids should have fun and will have fun. I think we should act on the parking ban and let them slide,” said the mayor.
“You can’t take that hill away from kids,” echoed Coun. Kabel. “I don’t disagree that there is a safety concern but we don’t have any other place for them to slide.”
The discussion was sparked by reports from the Joint Health and Safety Committee, the Planning Advisory Committee, and the Operations and Facilities division to consider the safety of children on the overpass.
The Planning Advisory Committee had suggested council improve the hill’s safety or prohibit sliding, and was not happy with its decision.
“They just said no sliding but if you go over there, are there kids sledding? You know they’re sledding,” noted committee member Ted Berry.
“Council misunderstood, and I’m sorry about that, but really the committee’s intent was to take care of concerns at the bottom,” he added.
“The concern was to do something about the hazards whether you condone it or don’t condone it,” Berry stressed.