Council is set to go forward with the Expression of Interest (EOI) process in the multi-use turf discussions. This would look at potential interest from third parties that could assist the city in developing the facility. These groups would essentially be bidding to be the providers of goods and services within the facility.

Discussed was whether or not council should disclose who these third party groups are to the public. Eventually, an amendment was passed that means council will communicate this information, only if the party meets the minimum requirement for the multi-use turf facility.

Northwood Ward Councillor Shelby Ch’ng praised the move stressing the importance of transparency in the process.

“Some of the things that came forward closed session, I thought could have very well been made public. I’m hoping that we can have more clarity so that when people call me and say ‘I have a great idea about X business providing X service for the turf’ I can say that it was actually looked at.”

At-Large Councillor Mark Bentz agreed with Councillor Ch’ng, believing that only the groups that meet the minimum requirements for the facility should be presented to the public.

“We should be as transparent as we can without breaching confidentiality and breaking laws and all the rest of that. We can do that, I think if I’m not mistaken we didn’t share the last expressions of interest at all with the community and that wasn’t a good thing for us.” said Councillor Bentz, “We could have had a conversation with the community with the proposals that came in. I don’t want to see us make the same mistake here.”

Council has provided some long-term needs for the facility, including:

Available October to mid-May
Provision of FIFA quality indoor synthetic turf multi-purpose playing surface approximating
or larger than 58m x 95m (190 x 310 ft.) and ability to partition to accommodate multiple,
concurrent, diverse turf sport users at one time
Minimum height clearance of 12.19m (40 ft.).
2 lane walking/running track (>318m)
Accessible washrooms within facility solution or immediately adjacent
 Referee change rooms
User group change rooms
 Spectator capacity (900)

Council hopes the multi-turf facility, the preferred location being Chapples Park, will be operational in fall 2023 or earlier.