Community committee gets behind wading pool conversions

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This article was published 8/5/2019 (193 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A proposal by Coun. Vivian Santos to convert many of the city’s aging wading pools into splash pads and other recreational amenities has cleared its first hurdle.

The motion was unanimously supported – with additional funding — at the Lord Selkirk-West Kildonan community committee meeting Tuesday night.

Santos initially proposed that $1 million be set aside annually to upgrade the old wading pools, most of which were built in the 1960s. With Coun. Ross Eadie's’ support, the funding amount was increased to $1.3 million.

The proposal will be forwarded to council’s community services and parks committee for consideration in the 2020 budget process.

The community committee also backed Eadie’s plan to regulate the number of cannabis plants that individuals are allowed to grow in their homes for personal medical use. The property and development committee will review it.

Eadie had expressed concern that some individuals are abusing their Health Canada approvals to grow cannabis for medical purposes.

A prescription for 1 gram of cannabis per day requires the cultivation of five plants, Eadie said.

He pointed a home in the Maples, which is being used as a medical cannabis grow-op, that has 200 plants. He believes grow ops with more than 20 plants should be restricted to a light industrial zone.

Eadie wants city staff to work with the cannabis industry to determine the appropriate number of plants that can be grown for personal medical use in an individual's home.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca