Markham debates ice monitoring program for Toogood Pond in Unionville

YorkRegion.com
Nov. 1, 2016
Amanda Persico

Markham residents are a step closer to skating on Toogood Pond.

Markham opted for a cost-sharing option with Toronto, where two professional ice engineers would test and monitor ice on Toogood Pond daily for an eight-week period. But council is still waiting for ice clearing costs before the time-old tradition is given the green flag.

The ice engineering firm would be responsible for protective equipment, tools and safety related to ice monitoring, costing about $100,000 or $6,600 per skating day, based on city staff estimates of 15 skating days per season.

Following an outcry from local residents last December, the city set up a working group, consisting of residents, councillors and city staff, to look at ice safety and skating options for the time-old tradition in Unionville.

City staff presented a report this week to the general committee outlining ice monitoring options that include hiring ice engineers, training city staff and cost sharing with Toronto.

But residents claim the working group focused more on liability and occupational health and safety regulations than coming up with a plan to resume skating on Toogood Pond for 2017.

“A very simple issue has become so convoluted,” said Reid McAlpine of the Unionville Ratepayers Association.

“Common sense has deserted us.”

Markham has been preoccupied with liability and safety concerns, where a risk of any kind is not acceptable, McAlpine said.

“If that was the case, the city would not allow any employee to drive a city vehicle,” he said. “What happened to make Markham so risk averse? You can’t completely avoid risk. That’s not realistic. It’s like bubble-wrapping your children.”

Regional Councillor Nirmala Armstrong agreed, arguing the city’s fire and emergency services crew take risks every day.

Other municipalities such as Richmond Hill, Uxbridge, Port Perry and the Credit Valley Conservation Authority allow public skating on frozen ponds. There is even a controlled public skating program on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa.

“Skating on Toogood is part of the community,” said Unionville resident Wes Rowe. “Markham is supposed to be a place to live, work and play. There isn’t any play around here anymore.”

While there haven’t been any instances of a skater drowning at Toogood Pond, there have been instances of equipment and trucks breaking through various ice surfaces in the city.

There is still the issue of silt accumulation and how that impacts ice formation, said the city’s director of operations, Barb Rabicki.

“Ice is like a sheet of paper floating on water,” she said.

Several residents questioned the cost and need for ice engineers since the Ministry of Natural Resources has a provincewide working on ice guideline, which outlines steps to ensure safe ice conditions, lists minimum ice thickness requirements and staff safety provisions, such as developing systems a check-in check-out, communications and a buddy system.

And this list could easily apply to Toogood Pond, McAlpine said.

Some councillors argued this would open a Pandora’s Box where every body of water and stormwater management pond would be up for similar ice monitoring debates.

Staff also pointed to other skating options including the $4 million artificial ice surface at the Civic Centre, public skating at the nearby Crosby Memorial Arena and establishing two volunteer outdoor skating rinks in the Toogood Pond parking lot.

The ice monitoring program, which could still be axed under the 2017 budget process, did not include ice maintenance options.

“If we’re going to spend $100,000 for two engineers to monitor the ice, let’s clear the ice so residence can use it,” Mayor Frank Scarpitti said.

Scarpitti also requested staff to look into the possibility of lowering water levels in the pond.

The decision to hire qualified ice engineers to monitor Toogood Pond was met with some hesitation by several councillors and passed by a margin.

“My reaction is mixed,” McAlpine said after the debate, questioning whether the motion will pass at council. “The option is overkill and hugely expensive. As a resident, I’m happy. As a taxpayer, I’m not happy.”

But Councillor Don Hamilton argued hiring ice engineers is a happy medium for those involved, staff will feel safer on the ice knowing the ice was tested by engineers, and residents can lace up their skates.

He also noted, unless there is a barrier around Toogood Pond, the city could be found liable and made to pay if there was an accident.

“Residents can say, ‘oh, you this’ or ‘oh, you that’. But it’s not the residents who will pay liability,” he said. “Residents can say this is a waste of taxpayers' money, when all we had to do was clear the ice. Let them take responsibility then.”

City staff are to report back to the next council meeting on Nov. 15, the cost to clear Toogood Pond, the size to be cleared and how it will be accommodated.