Proposed repairs to the Onaping Falls Community Centre were killed during 2023 budget deliberations last month, but a community steward has pledged continued advocacy.
“The next step is to contact our councillor to see what we can do,” Carrie Morin said, noting that although the city finalized its 2023 budget on Feb. 16, decisions can always be revisited.
While some business cases that failed to receive city council approval were punted to 2024 budget talks, she noted the Onaping Falls project did not, and died on the order paper.
“Our reaction is appalled,” Morin said, adding the city has been neglecting its outlying communities, where everything seems to be a fight.
It was only after Ward 3 Coun. Gerry Montpellier brought public attention to a leaking roof that a patch job was undertaken last year.
Montpellier pushed for the business case calling for extensive repairs to the centre, which city council neglected to table during 2023 budget talks. The Ward 3 councillor did not attend budget deliberations, and a message regarding the centre Sudbury.com placed with his office was not returned.
That said, given that none of the 12 members of city council who attended budget talks opted to table the business case, it appears likely to have been a lost cause regardless of his absence.
Although the city has a capital prioritization policy through which it treats all community centres equally, under which it’s been noted “all of the community centres require extensive work,” Morin feels outlying communities receive the short end of the stick due to lower attendance numbers.
The business case proposing Onaping Falls Community Centre repairs notes the centre is “in similar condition” to the city’s other facilities, and that “all of the community centres require extensive capital work and funding.”
It outlines a proposed $1.3-million investment in 2023 and an additional $5 million through to 2026. The initial 2023 investment would address the building's facade, flashings, windows, exterior paints, doors, frames, staircases, handrails, plumbing fixtures and various other components throughout. The pool’s change/washrooms would have also been upgraded.
Alongside a pool, Morin noted the centre includes a gym, teen centre, food bank, free theatre, library, adult learning centre, play centre for kids, an art club and other amenities.
“It’s the community hub for Levack and Onaping,” she said, adding that she intends on connecting with Montpellier and city officials to see what the next step in advocacy might be.
Also of concern to Morin were a couple other motions that passed during budget deliberations, including a pause on arena roof replacement projects.
Although Ward 6 Coun. René Lapierre introduced the pause so the city can develop a broader plan before proceeding with work later this year, Morin is concerned it’s a step toward closure.
Included in the list of projects on pause is a roof replacement at the I.J. Coady Memorial Arena in Levack.
She’s also concerned about what actions the city might take as a result of their ongoing aquatics rationalization and modernization review. The Onaping Pool was built in 1967, is in poor condition and receives the lowest number of swim visits, at 5,189 per year.
The broader Onaping Falls Community Centre building opened in 1957 as the Lindsley Public School. A Core Services Review undertaken in 2019 by the city with KPMG ranked the Onaping Falls Community Centre as one of the five lowest-utilized centres/halls in Greater Sudbury. Its utilization was four per cent in 2018, which assumes an availability of 18 hours per day. The city’s overall average for buildings such as this is 20-per-cent utilization.
While some business cases that failed to get approved during 2023 budget deliberations got punted to 2024 deliberations, others effectively died. Alongside the Onaping Falls Community Centre business cases, the following notable proposals also ceased to be:
- Kalmo Beach 10-Year Plan preliminary design and study work, which then-Ward 5 Coun. Robert Kirwan pushed for in the lead-up to budget deliberations.
- Installing road weather information stations to help provide real-time information on road conditions.
- Reintroducing GOVA service along Dominion Drive and Elmview Drive. This business case was initially championed by Lapierre.
- Increasing resources to the city’s regreening program by $50,000 to purchase and plant an additional 50,000 conifer tree seedlings, which would have resulted in an additional 125 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent sequestered per year.
- Revitalize and expand municipal trailer parks at Centennial Park, Ella Lake Campground and Whitewater Lake Park to better meet the needs of users, at a cost of almost $2 million. Former Ward 4 Coun. Geoff McCausland championed this business case last year.
- Several business cases that called for service level reductions to things such as GOVA Transit also died on the order paper. These business cases were from city administrators, who were asked by city council to prepare budget reduction options.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.