Recreation support

Thank you for reaching out and sharing such candid, detailed thoughts on our local recreation facilities. You raise a very valid point regarding the history of our outdoor rinks. In the past, community volunteers and dedicated parents took pride in flooding and maintaining those ice sheets, often late into the night. While municipal oversight intended to standardize operations, strict operational policies—like requiring multiple consecutive days below specific freezing temperatures before maintenance begins—have frequently left residents with fewer usable skating days during the winter season. On the question of artificial ice, it would certainly extend the season, but it comes with a substantial capital and operational cost. Given the Township’s serious financial commitments—including the proposed administrative building, major drainage challenges, and broader infrastructure backlogs—our municipal budget is under a significant crunch. Every tax dollar must be carefully prioritized. However, as you may know, the new pavilion and rink structure currently underway at Toanche Park has refrigeration lines roughed in, providing the potential for future artificial ice if funding and priorities align down the road. Regarding court facilities at Balm Beach, balancing tennis and the rapid growth of pickleball has clearly created friction. I do not play pickleball myself, so I would welcome any clarification on the specific issues you are experiencing with the court surface or layout. Finding a workable balance between accommodating both sports while protecting dedicated spaces is important, but building new tennis-only facilities elsewhere would require serious capital investment and user-fee considerations. Before committing large sums of public funds to reconfigure or construct new courts, Council needs clear data from the Recreation Department. We need to look at actual user statistics, court utilization numbers, and maintenance costs to determine the most responsible, cost-effective way forward. Your insights into the court layout and volunteer rink maintenance are important community perspectives. I strongly encourage you to bring these specific concerns directly to Council through a scheduled deputation. It puts your firsthand experience directly on the official record for both staff and elected officials to address. Thank you again for taking the time to share your perspective on keeping recreation accessible, community-driven, and fiscally responsible. Warm regards, Karen Zulynik Candidate for Deputy Mayor, Tiny Township

It sounds like Public Works decided to replace rink volunteers with paid contact employees. I would not speculate, but would be asking what the rationale was. On the surface it does not make a lot of sense but then I don't have all the details. As far as the tennis vs. pickleball courts are concerned, I agree that there needs to be a proper delineation and greater investment in these facilities. My short answer is that I would support a full review of this situation with additional public input and recommendations.

Thank you for raising this. Recreation is not a small issue in Tiny; it is part of how our communities stay active, connected, and proud of where we live. Outdoor rinks, tennis courts, pickleball courts, parks, beaches, and local gathering spaces all contribute to quality of life, and I believe Council should treat them as important community infrastructure. I have heard the concern that outdoor rinks were once more responsive to local conditions because volunteers were directly involved. I support looking at a model that gives community volunteers a formal role again, with the Township providing practical support such as water access, equipment, clear safety guidance, and insurance coverage. The goal should be to make it easier for residents to help keep rinks open when conditions allow, not to create rules that prevent good winter days from being used. I also believe the Township needs to be more thoughtful about tennis and pickleball. Shared courts can work in some places, but they do not always serve either sport well. Tennis players should have proper tennis-only courts, and pickleball players should have spaces that are designed for pickleball rather than awkwardly fitted into facilities that were not built for that purpose. For Balm Beach specifically, I would support reviewing whether that site should be dedicated to pickleball if that is the best practical use of the layout, while also planning for new or restored tennis-only courts elsewhere in the Township. These decisions should be made with input from the people who actually use the facilities, including local tennis and pickleball groups. If elected, I would be interested in supporting recreation and, where justified, investing money in it. That means maintenance, better planning, resurfacing where needed, winter operations, volunteer partnerships, and facilities that match how residents actually use them. I do not believe recreation should be over-bureaucratized. The Township’s role should be to support safe, accessible community use, not to make participation harder than it needs to be. My commitment would be to listen to residents, work with user groups, review the current recreation policies, and push for a practical plan that brings life back to local facilities throughout the year.