A recently approved plan to improve Terry Fox Circle was up for ratification at Monday’s council meeting when Coun. David Campbell asked for a recorded vote.
When the issue was originally discussed in August, Campbell highlighted safety concerns about pedestrians in the park, and called for council to move forward with a significantly smaller, redesigned circle.
At the time, Campbell said “experts have all agreed that having a road running through a park makes no sense” and that “with families and children playing and enjoying the park, a serious incident is inevitable.”
Although council narrowly supported repaving the current circle in August, on Monday Campbell assigned blame for any future accidents to councillors who voted to keep the circle the way it is.
“I would like to request a recorded vote on this one. If, God forbid, someone should ever get seriously injured down there, I want people to know who to hold responsible for that,” said the Ward 1 councillor.
Despite Campbell’s reservations, council’s August decision stood on Monday, with councillors Tim Lauer, Ralph Cipolla, Whitney Smith, Jeff Czetwerzuk, and Mayor Don McIsaac voting in favour of the idea. Campbell, Jay Fallis, Luke Leatherdale, and Janet-Lynne Durnford voted against it.
After the meeting, Leatherdale told OrilliaMatters he mistakenly cast his vote against the idea, but had intended to vote in favour of improving the current circle. He said he has discussed the error with city staff.
With council’s approval, plans to repave the current circle and move a pedestrian pathway closer to the water — to allow for a barrier to be constructed between the path and roadway — will be discussed further during 2025 budget deliberations.
Coun. Tim Lauer also requested alternate costing estimates to repave and move an eastern section of the circle to the west, at a distance smaller than two metres, to create further separation between the trail and roadway – an amendment council supported.
City staff, however, highlighted the idea might mean two memorial trees will need to be moved.
“We would actually need to remove two memorial trees. We are actively trying to get permission from those folks to move them. We do not have that yet confirmed for sure,” said Jamie Galloway, the city's general manager of development services and engineering.
McIsaac questioned why safety concerns continue to be raised regarding the circle, arguing “there’s not been a single accident” in the area, and also spoke against moving the memorial trees.
“We'd have to go to two families who have a memorial tree there and ask them to move it, and I don't think that's acceptable,” he said.
Council’s Monday decision arrives after years of debate about Terry Fox Circle’s fate, which included a citizen-led petition that garnered over 6,000 signatures to keep it the way it is.
