Treatment Plant In Park Not Illegal: Mayor

Treatment Plant In Park Not Illegal: Mayor

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 at 12:04

The mayor of La Ronge says he does not buy the argument that having the Town’s water treatment plant in a lakefront park is illegal.

Joe Hordyski says he questions local resident Joe Neumann’s interpretation of a document signed by provincial officials in 1984 — the year the Town of La Ronge took ownership of the downtown land parcel now known as Patterson Park.

That document says that the land is not to be used for any purpose “other than for public recreation.”

Hordyski says he sees that only as a restriction on re-zoning, such as for commercial use.

Also, the Town’s old water treatment plant was partially on the Patterson Park property already, even before the Town rebuilt it.

With that in mind, Hordyski says it’s “pretty odd” to object to either the existing facility, which opened in 2002, or the current expansion project.

Hordyski says the current town recreation board has been on-side with the expansion project, even asking for public washrooms to be added for park users.