Threshers' blessing would be needed for new soccer field on Blyth Campground: NH staff
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
North Huron Council received a report from Director of Public Works and Facilities Gregg Furtney in regards to a request from the Blyth Kids Club to construct a soccer field on the Blyth Campground. The club’s estimated cost to construct the field is $75,000, not including taxes or design.
The request from the Kids Club was made before the township’s new acceptance of donations and fundraising policy came into place on March 4. Staff believes that the cost of design would be between $10,000 and $15,000. No funds were allocated for the proposed project in the 2024 budget.
Furtney’s report cited North Huron’s 2021 Master Plan for Parks, Recreation, and Culture, which recommends an investigation into the feasibility of various soccer organizations consolidating their schedules with the goal of removing the township’s obligation to maintain an existing field in Morris-Turnberry. The township would work to secure long-term access to existing school fields while considering options for acquiring new land or repurposing existing municipal land to use for a field.
Staff’s proposed options include encouraging the Blyth Kids Club to partner with a registered non-profit organization to raise their own funds, funding some or all of the project with reserve funds, deferring the decision or taking no further action. A letter of approval from the Huron Pioneer Threshers and Hobby Association (HPTHA) would be required before the project could move forward, if council chose that option.
Staff has not yet begun working to secure long-term access to the school fields. “North Huron owns the campground, so it will be up to us to decide what is best for the municipality,” said Furtney.
Councillor Mitch Wright commented that, while he supports the idea of a field in Blyth, council had already made the decision to leave it out of the 2024 budget. “We already went through our budget process recently and we identified which 2024 projects we are going to do - this wasn’t on the list. I don’t think we should be rehashing it again so soon. And also, we just put in our new policy in regards to how groups like this can work with the municipality by presenting a proposal for partial fundraising so it becomes a shared responsibility between the local group that wants the facility and, of course, council’s use of taxpayers’ funds.” Wright put forth the idea that the Kids Club could use the new fundraising policy to canvas for potential local donations, and present a new proposal to council so it could be considered as a possible project for the 2025 budget.
Deputy-Reeve Kevin Falconer pointed out that Wright’s idea was very similar to staff’s first option, adding that North Huron would have “to designate a certain square footage where they could put it. That being said, of the soccer associations currently in North Huron, the northern wards have had access to four fields throughout the township, and one outside the township, for many years - the ones in the southern and the Blyth ward have not had any municipal participants in any of the soccer facilities - I’ve seen the need and I’ve seen the passion of the personnel of the Blyth Club putting their time and effort in - they’ve made the teams, they’ve obtained the equipment, they’re just looking for a flat surface for the kids to run on... The facility is not being utilized to its full potential. It’s one week a year that it is fully used. North Huron has no cash value in any children’s park in Blyth Ward... that’s been left to service groups. This would be nothing less than allowing another service group to provide that facility for us... my own personal opinion is that any asset of North Huron we own should be fully subsidized by North Huron, and kept up to the best of the ability of that asset, or not have it.”
Councillor Chris Palmer advocated for encouraging the club to find a community partner that would work with it to raise funds locally. “Maybe they already have a partner, I don’t know. But it would be nice for that to happen - it’s a start... we can’t do anything as far as budgetary means this year anyway, and fundraising always takes time, so it’ll give them time for that.” Palmer also voiced concerns about whether or not the plethora of antique tractors that occupy the campground during the annual HPTHA reunion would impact the longevity of the field. “You can’t even park cars on a soccer field,” he said. “We’d have to make sure that Threshers are alright with setting that bit aside and to not utilize it - that’s the only way to make a field resilient.” He also pointed out that at least one of the school fields is in a state of disrepair. “It was not done properly... it doesn’t grow well, and it’s pockmarked. The kids have trouble there.”
Falconer argued that less concern should be focused on the HPTHA. “The property we’re talking about is owned by North Huron. It’s rented for a week by a non-profit organization. The other 51 weeks of the year, it’s the responsibility of North Huron to maintain, cut and do with it what we will. The square footage of what Threshers uses has been shrinking for many years. They don’t use the full camping grounds, and the gravel spaces are where the tractors and steam engines go. There’s many spaces there - it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to find suitable square footage for a soccer field that’s not in use... our responsibility is to our taxpayers, not to the organization that rents it.” He went on to point out that the two organizations were already in talks about accommodating both the field and the steam engines, and were close to an agreement.
Clerk Carson Lamb drafted a motion for council to support the report’s first option - encouraging the Kids Club to partner with a registered non-profit organization in order to raise 100 per cent of the funds themselves, with staff offering suggestions of grants for which they could apply. The motion passed unanimously.