By Chad Ingram

The following are brief reports of items discussed during a Nov. 26 Dysart et al council meeting.

The Blair family is donating a large parcel of land along County Road 21 to the Municipality of Dysart et al for the purpose of a future recreation centre.

“This is to advise the council of the Municipality of Dysart et al of my intention to donate the block of land at the corner of Soyers Lake Road and County Road 21 … for the purpose of developing a recreation centre for the community of Haliburton County” reads correspondence from Marnnie Blair.

The property located across County Road 21 from the Pinestone measures 15.75 acres in size.

“I am making this gesture in honour of my parents Lee and Marie Blair and as such am requesting that when such time comes that a facility is developed a commemorative plaque be placed in a prominent place honouring my parents” Blair’s correspondence reads and additionally requests the municipality take care of the surveying legal and other costs associated with the transaction. “This community meant a lot to both of my parents and as such I am delighted to make this contribution to the health and well-being of all.”

“To me this is just the first step” said Mayor Andrea Roberts. “We’ve often talked about where do we expand what do we do or could there be a pool or should there be a full community centre.”

The A.J LaRue Arena used largely for minor hockey and for its rentable space upstairs is not accessible.

“So no promises but at least with this gift we are able to have land” Roberts said. “And that land is on sewers and that land is only a few kilometres outside of our village and central to the county.”

Following a planned eight-hour power outage by Hydro One that affected many parts of the county on Sunday Nov. 24 Mayor Andrea Roberts said she’d been in contact with the utility and requested that any lengthy planned outages in the future take place before the end of October.