Coun. Russ Wyatt turns red over lack of detail about Winnipeg green spaces
Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt clashed with public works officials Tuesday over what he says is insufficient reporting about the state of Winnipeg's parks.
A report to the city's protection, community services and parks committee states roughly one in 10 city "park assets" — that is, amenities within the city's parks — are in poor condition, and it would require $53 million to fix them up.
Wyatt, who authored the motion calling for the report back in November 2015, called the report incomplete because it fails to list the replacement or repair cost for every deficient park asset.
He complained the city is doing a poor job of keeping track of its parks.
"I'm sorry for getting angry. We've been waiting a year and a half for this," Wyatt told parks and open spaces manager Dave Domke, park investment strategies co-ordinator Lori Nichols and public works director Lester Deane.
He said the public service ignored the intent of the 2015 committee motion.
"It's very disappointing. We asked for a very simple report," Wyatt said. "The information is there and they chose not to share it."
City officials denied they ignored the will of politicians and said they did the best they could with the information they gathered.
"We've never had information like this before and we're quite excited about the information we do have," said Domke, who offered to give Wyatt the raw data that went into the report.
The committee voted 3-1 to approve the parks report, with Wyatt voting in opposition.
In a separate report, public works officials said there would be no benefit to merging the city's parks and open spaces with the golf services special operating agency.
