Jourdan; This is Talk of the Town with Brooks Mayor John Petrie. Council committee had a
chance to hear from R F Binnie and associates who were hired to do the design work at the old rodeo
grounds. What were some of the ideas they told council.
John: First of all, they gave us some pricing. With the football field and two soccer fields, the
price would come in at $5 million. If we want artificial turf, the price comes at $6 million, so we do have
a gap of what we budgeted, which was $3 million. Now, we can do it in phases.
Some of the other aspects they reported on where that the football field should be north and
south. In a survey, a major did like the concept of an artificial turf.
Other take aways included that a concession, change rooms and washrooms should be
amenities to hosting tournaments. The track should be put around one of the soccer fields, so the end
zones of the football field are not cut off, and that the site should be a community hub that includes
other amenities such as spray park, picket ball courts, beach volleyball and pathways.
Jourdan: So what’s the next step?
John: Council will form a working group to work on this project. This same plan was done
when the CRA was constructed and also with the expansion at the JBS Canada Centre. The first meeting
of this group comes up in early October.
Jourdan: Council heard from the quarterly municipal enforcement report. What are some of
the stats?
John: Officers spent an estimated total of 700 hours on traffic enforcement during the
quarter, violations included Class 7 drivers, speeding, distracted driving and unregistered vehicles. The
by-law officers also spent about 420 hours on parking enforcement, property care and management
and following up on citizen complaints. They also spend a considerable amount f time on dog and cat
complaints. As you know, we now allow hen houses, and five hen licences have been issued to date.
Jourdan: A busy week coming up with a lot of different functions, starting off with
Commemorative Forest Dedication on Wednesday.
John: The dedication ceremony is this Wednesday at 2 pm at Lake Stafford. The public is invited out
and if you’re lucky enough, the dozens of pelicans that have been using the lake might still be there.
Also, three herons were spotted at the lake. Anyone, this is always a nice ceremony and everyone is
welcome.
Jourdan: There is a Citizenship Ceremony Thursday at the JBS Canada Centre.
John: With the pandemic, we have not had a public one like this for a number of years, so its
nice to have it back. It starts officially at 1 pm., lead by the Piper, Jay Good. The presiding official will
be James Horseman. This is always an exciting event for those becoming Canada Citizens and for there
families as it a special. And as always, this is open to the public.
Jourdan. Then we have a busy weekend.
John: It starts Friday night when the Bandits open up the season and raise the flag on winning
another Centennial Cup Championship. There is a tail gate party at the arena with free hot dogs for the
first 500 fans. The Bandits are off to a good start and play Sherwood Park on Friday and Whitecourt on
Saturday.
Jourdan: Then of course, a big day Saturday with the Taste of Nations.
John: Taste of Nations was back last year, but out doors. This is year, it is back in the JBs
Canada Centre. This is always a nice event as we get to taste foods from around the world, plus SPEC
and BCIS are handling the different on stage cultural performances, and these are always elaborate
affairs with the different music, costumes and culture. It goes from 11 to 2 on Saturday.
Jourdan: This has been Talk of the Town with Brooks Mayor John Petrie.