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No harm, no foul on rugby field in Tiverton By Liz Dadson |
Kincardine council To Comment on this article Click Here |
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 Councillor Randy Roppel points to the partially-built rugby field (in blue outline), whereas the field was to be built where the red outline indicates, toward the bottom right of the map | ||||
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Kincardine council has agreed there was no harm intended when the Barbarians Rugby Club started building a playing field beside the Tiverton Sports Centre this fall. In committee-of-the-whole last night (Dec. 20), recreation director Karen Kieffer said the solution now is to balance the parking needs of the sports centre with the sports team's desire to fund and build a new field. She recommended a space allocation study be done on the Tiverton Sports Centre complex and surrounding fairgrounds. The work can be done in-house, using the municipality's Global Information System (GIS) mapping, so there will be no extra cost for the study, she said. By way of explanation, Kieffer said the rugby team came to the recreation committee in the summer, about funding the construction of a new sports field in Tiverton which would be used, predominantly, for rugby, along with other user groups. The committee agreed, in principle, with the idea, but had to finalize several details, including a site plan, drainage, costing, insurance, and Workplace Safety and Insurance Board requirements, before taking a report to council for approval. "However, due to poor communications, the rugby club assumed it had permission to construct the field due to the approval of the recreation committee and an on-site meeting with two community volunteers from the recreation committee," said Kieffer. Meanwhile, the two volunteers believe the rugby club has built the field in an area that is used for parking for the Tiverton Fall Fair and should have built the field on the southeasterly limits of the sports centre site. Kieffer said the proposed study will meet the needs of the parking at the sports centre, and the new rugby field. Councillor Randy Roppel said the study will not address the situation as it stands now. "These over-zealous individuals thought they had permission to create a rugby field," he said. "They committed the ultimate sin. They had no permission to do this. "This is not acceptable. If we do nothing, it means anybody can build on municipal land. This report (from Kieffer) addresses absolutely nothing." "I thought this came before the last council," said councillor Ron Coristine. "The field was already in progress then." "It had not come before council and was not authorized," said mayor Larry Kraemer. "This is one of the issues we have with the governance structure. There are so many committees. The discussion was at the recreation committee, which agreed in principle, but it never came to council." He agreed that the rugby club jumped the gun, and now the municipality has a partially-built rugby field under three feet of snow. Councillor Maureen Couture said the rugby club is not going to proceed now without permission so council should go through with the study to better understand the needs for parking and the sports field in that location. Councillor Kenneth Craig disagreed, saying the report does not send a strong enough message to the rugby club that the field cannot be built where it was begun. "I'm not sure that a parking allocation study is the right means for deciding where the field should go," he said. "This has already turned into a political situation; it's more than just a parking study."
Martin O'Connor Martin O'Connor, director of coaching with the Barbarians Rugby Club, said the club decided to change the location of the field because a lot of work had gone into a nearby municipal ditch which drains all the water from land around the sports centre.
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In addition, the club wanted to be far enough back from the roadway so it wasn't kicking the ball onto Highway 21. "We have a top rugby club," he said. "We have one of the largest junior programs in the province. We have a senior women's team, and the Barbarians have won two successful championships. All we need now is a home." He said the club realizes it has made a mistake but wants to work with the municipality to make this its home field. "You did make a mistake," said Roppel. "Rules are rules." He asked council to allow one of the recreation committee volunteers, who dealt with this situation, to speak. Council agreed. Dorne Fitzsimmons said the understanding was the field would be located at the southeast corner of the land in front of the sports centre, running perpendicular to the highway. However, the rugby club has begun building it parallel to the highway directly in front of the sports centre. "We agreed to have a field but not where it currently sits," he said. "Now, in the best interests of the municipality, we must work with the rugby team to get this settled once and for all.""There has been no real major irreparable damage done here," said Kraemer. "The intention of the rugby club was to provide a field at no expense to the community. We should embrace community groups that want to do that." He said there was a procedural error but the study should be done and a report come to council. "No harm, no foul," he said. Council agreed. Later, O'Connor said the rugby club spent $25,000 levelling the field, and will work with council to sort out the situation. Further costs include seeding the field, and putting up goal posts. Scrolling stops when you move your mouse inside the scroll area. You can click on the ads for more
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