A fishing expedition to Meaford council by the Owen Sound Regional Recreation Centre steering committee failed to land the catch of the day.

Recreation centre representatives attended Meaford council's planning meeting held on the evening of January 18. The committee members, led by city Councillor Jim McManaman, made a formal request to council to appoint a Meaford representative to the committee.

The request generated a lukewarm reaction from council. Municipal representatives made no promises that Meaford would participate in the project. However, Councillor Cynthia Lemon notified her colleagues that she would bring a resolution to appoint a Meaford representative to the steering committee at council's next meeting.

The request from the recreation committee did not come affixed with a price tag for Meaford's formal participation. McManaman said the committee was interested in Meaford's input during the construction phase of the project because city and YMCA studies indicate approximately 10% of the facility's users will come from Meaford. Owen Sound has partnered with the YMCA on the project. The Township of Georgian Bluffs also has one member on the committee.

The Recreation Centre proposes to be a new and improved YMCA facility that will feature a full-size eight-lane pool, a smaller pool, a fitness centre, meeting rooms and a common area. The YMCA will operate that portion of the facility. The centre will also include two brand new ice pads that will be run by the City of Owen Sound. Construction on the project will begin next month.

The request for Meaford to participate applies only to the design and construction phase of the project. It was not clear what would be expected of the Municipality of Meaford after the facility is built and in operation.

McManaman, along with fellow committee members representing the YMCA Evelyn Dean, Gail Graham and Sonya Mount made a detailed presentation about the project and the various needs assessment studies that have been completed over the years to show the wide spread community interest in an expanded YMCA/Recreation Centre facility.

Mount explained to council that Meaford has been participating in committees studying the feasibility of a new YMCA/Recreation Centre going back several years.

The Recreation Centre became a reality last spring when Owen Sound was able to secure $22 million in infrastructure funding from the upper levels of government for the $30 million project. A capital fundraising campaign with a goal of raising $5 million for the project will soon be launched.

The presentation drew a range of reactions and questions from members of council. Councillor Cynthia Lemon was clearly in favour of participating. Councillors Gerald Shortt and Harley Greenfield said they couldn't justify getting involved considering Meaford's current financial situation.

Deputy Mayor Mike Traynor was curious about the terms "regional" and "partnership."

"What is meant by 'regional?' What is meant by 'partnership?' If we're part of this larger region, were we part of the application process? No, we weren't," commented Traynor. "Sometimes we talk about 'regional', but we don't know what we mean," he said.

Mount explained that the use of the term 'regional' stems from the results of studies done to determine who would use an expanded recreation facility and where they would come from. She said all studies done indicate that significant usage of the new facility will come from outside of Owen Sound - particularly from Georgian Bluffs and Meaford.

Councillor Jim McPherson wanted to know if Meaford's participation and input came with a price tag.

"Do you expect a financial contribution?" McPherson asked.

McManaman said there is no expectation of a financial contribution at this time.

"There are no strings attached. Will we some day want to have a discussion about financing? One day we will," he said. "We understand the financial constraints Meaford is under. In Owen Sound it looks like our provincial funds are getting cut by $2 million," he said.

Council made no commitment to participate in the project.