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Pickleball players want storage shed at Cowichan Avenue court in Lake Cowichan

They have one already in mind, but need council’s OK to go ahead
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Cowichan Lake pickleball representative Richard Madill tells town council about the shed his group needs at the Cowichan Avenue site. (Lexi Bainas/Gazette)

Cowichan Lake Pickleball players want a shed for their equipment at the outdoor court on Cowichan Avenue.

Richard Madill made a presentation to Lake Cowichan town council in December, saying it would be useful to have a small lock-up there.

“We don’t have much; but we want to pick up a leaf blower and we don’t really have a place to put squeegees or anything like that. We’d just like to put up a little 8 x 10 shed in the one corner near where the washrooms are. But, we don’t want to put it outside the fencing.

“We have four options to do this. First would be a metal container, which would be way more secure but would be expensive. Or the town builds us a shed, or the town supplies the stuff to build a shed and we make it. The fourth option is that the pickleball group buys a shed.

“We’ve found one: an 8 x 10 shed that’s in really great shape and only needs a coat of paint. We’d put it in. The biggest thing right now is your bylaw. You’re not allowed to put something in there. I know you did make an exception with baseball. So I was hoping you would make a change to the bylaw. And that’s pretty well it.”

Coun. Tim McGonigle asked, “Is this time sensitive?”

Madill said, “No, but the sooner the better. The guy who’s selling the shed could get more selling it, but he’s willing to give us a discount to buy it.”

Coun. Kristine Sandu asked if the pickleball courts were currently locked up, and if there was a difference to the shed’s being on the inside or the outside of the fence.

Madill explained that they did not lock the courts, “Because you guys own the land. The only time we lock it is when we get a tournament. We would lock the shed but we’re not going to have a lot of stuff in there. We’re not going to have money in there. I was told that if we put it on the outside, we’d be getting into riparian issues. But if it is inside, the fence isn’t locked anyway. Right now we have a small strong box that we put some stuff into. It’s not big enough to put in everything.”

McGonigle asked for and got the support of his colleagues on a motion to send the subject to a regular council meeting, with some recommendations from staff.

Coun. Lorna Vomacka then asked, “Would it be covered by your insurance?”

Madill said, “I don’t know that. But you guys own the courts.”

McGonigle told them both: “We’ll get that information in the report.”



lexi.bainas@cowichanvalleycitizen.com

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