Nickle Lake Regional Park had a strong year in 2019, and are doing well this year in spite of the impact of COVID-19, with the opening of a new subdivision in the spring.
A physically-distant annual meeting was held for the park at Knox Hall on Wednesday evening, plus the meeting was live-streamed on Facebook to some 84 viewers.
They heard the financial report for the regional park, and saw new plans unveiled for a capital project at the park.
Among the capital plans will be a refurbished paddling pool and the addition of a spray park, said board member Dan Cugnet, with the biggest project a new central building that will house a store, concession, offices, showers and washrooms.
He said this would position the park to continue to grow and thrive for the next 30 to 40 years, once they’ve upgraded some of the park facilities that are reaching the end of their useful lives, such as washrooms and the current paddling pool.
Presenting conceptual drawings by Bob Satre, Cugnet noted these are only proposals right now, but the board is hoping to have input from campers and park users about what they would like to see for improvements.
“We’re excited about this, to have the park well-positioned in the next decade,” said Cugnet, adding, “It’s a challenging economic time. It’s a bit of an uphill battle, but we think we have the support of a strong community around here.”
A major addition this year was the construction and opening of the new Crescent Point subdivision, which added 57 camp sites that have water, sewer and power available for the campers, including a new lift station to service that area.
There are plans to continue to add to the subdivision, such as play structures and washrooms, as it is located farther away from the central part of the park, said board chair Terry Benning.
He noted there was a large wait list for a camp site before this subdivision opened, and even after it was instantly filled when it opened, there is still a large waiting list of people wanting to get a site.
Benning pointed out a lot of work was done to get the new subdivision open. A crew from Jerry Mainil Ltd. did a lot of the earth-moving and other work, with Souris Valley Industries supplying the water and sewer pipe, and Industrial Electric putting in the power to the campsites. In addition, Jerry Mainil Ltd. provided a $50,000 donation towards the subdivision project.
The park board has decided to rename River Drive as “Barry Baudria Way”, in honour of his work and volunteering at the park for over 30 years, Benning announced.
The paddling pool is getting redone and will be ready by 2021, which would allow swimming lessons for camper families.
“It’s been very busy at the lake this year, despite the uncertainty. There have been a lot of campers who haven’t been here for a lot of years and are excited to be coming back,” said park manager Sandra Popescu, who noted she has been a seasonal camper at the park now for five years.
“There’s a real sense of community in the park. Everyone helps each other, which is a great thing to see. It’s almost like a little town,” she added.
Another ongoing project has been a revamping of the mini-golf game with local businesses adding new attractions, plus this year glow golf has begun and has been well-received so far, said Popescu.
In the financial report, presented by Reed Anderson of MNP, the regional park’s total for revenues in 2019 was $535,790, which is up by almost five per cent from the year before when the revenues totaled $510,574.
The expenses on the year totaled $501,558, which is up 1.5 per cent from the year before when they totaled $494,191. The profit after depreciation was $31,042, which Anderson noted was very consistent with recent years and no real surprises.
Some of the improved revenues came from camping fees, up 2.9 per cent, and boat dock fees, which were up by 15 per cent, plus a large increase in grants received.
In the forum part of the meeting, there was a question about the increase in park fees and what campers are seeing for their money.
Cugnet noted the increase this year was pro-rated due to the late opening of the park, and there will be an increase next year, with the increase in revenues to go towards helping upgrade some of the aging facilities around the park.
“So many things are end-of-life, that’s part of how we are prioritizing stuff. Part of the reason we added the subdivision was first to help get the revenues up. We did a drainage project in 2018 that put the park in the red. In order to keep moving forward, we have to generate more money,” he said. “We’re trying to do this in a way that’s manageable for us.”
