DIDSBURY - Council has approved the donation of $8,000 to the Bethany Care Foundation for a project that will see a pathway and gazebo constructed at the Bethany Didsbury facility.
The move came by way of motion at a recent council meeting, held in person and on YouTube.
Once completed, the pathway and gazebo will be open to Bethany Didsbury residents and visitors, as well as to the public, council heard.
On May 9 Bethany officials Heidi Lambie, senior development officer, and Mary Ann Clearwater, site administrator, appeared before council as a delegation, outlining the project.
They said the project would be “beneficial to our residents, families of Bethany Care Facility as well as the community members of Didsbury. The benefits of activity and exercise is well documented.
“In seniors, it is especially beneficial; improve strength and balance to prevent fall, can increase energy levels, can delay disease progression such as heart disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis, can improve mood and fight depression and may improve cognitive function.”
At the May 9 council meeting, council referred the $8,000 funding request to the committee of the whole.
The committee came back with a recommendation that the funding request be approved.
In a briefing note to council at the June 13 council meeting, chief administrative officer Ethan Gorner said, “Administration received legal advice that this type of project could qualify for the utilization of municipal reserve funds, but that the town would have to take measures to ensure the lands continue to be available to the public, by using such tools as a restrictive covenant that would be registered on title.”
The Bethany Care Foundation is agreeable to those measures, he said.
The $8,000 donation will come from the town’s In Lieu of Municipal Reserve Fund and will be conditional on measures to ensure the land remains open to public access.
In April, council had approved a letter of support for the pathway/gazebo project to the Bethany Care Foundation.
Summer Sunday Funday approved
In other news from the recent council meeting, council approved the Aug. 13 Summer Sunday Funday community-wide event.
The Community Service Department of the Town of Didsbury is working in collaboration with Didsbury Family and Community Support Services in the planning stages for the new community event, council heard.
“Building on the success of last summer’s slip and slide event, this community-oriented event will feature various attractions, including the 150-foot Slip & Slide in partnership with the Didsbury Fire Department, as well as food trucks, children’s activities, live music, and potentially a beer garden hosted by a community group,” CAO Gorner said in a briefing note.
