After receiving further clarification, I am disappointed to share that the Township of Russell has said no to participating in and contributing to a splash pad in Russell following the budget consultations. 

I had a discussion with the Director of Parks and Recreation on November 16th where she indicated that the township has no intention of installing a splash pad anywhere in Russell, despite 3 requests, including my own, for a splash pad in the latest public budget consultations.

Council believes that the splash pad (apparently) being built as part of the future recreation complex will be enough. In my presentation to Council, I explained the importance of being able to walk to a splash pad for community accessibility. The recreation complex does not meet this important need. 

The next steps suggested by the Director of Parks and Recreation, on behalf of Council, would be to ask a local community group to start fundraising for this initiative or create our own community group. If Council sees serious interest (i.e. substantial fundraising completed), they may engage at that point for further discussions about location. 

I will reach out to the local community groups again. If you have any connections to any local groups, I ask that you see if they will support this initiative for Russell.

Let's try to keep this going! Our community needs a splash pad and we can do this if we all pull together.