Belleville Councillor Mitch Panciuk December 12, 2016 (Photo: Mary Thomas/Quinte News)
Belleville’s Sports Hall of Fame, inactive for the past six years, is back on track.
President Dave Mills told city council Monday night that the group has been meeting since September and it is selecting individuals and teams for the Hall of Fame.
He said there will be a new display centre at the Quinte Sports and Wellness Centre that he expects to be ready toward the end of March.
Mills says they are getting “a healthy list of nominations” and the induction ceremony will be in September.
It will be named the Dr. R.L.Vaughan Belleville Sports Hall of Fame in honour of Dr. Bob Vaughan, former owner of the Belleville Bulls and prominent sports supporter.
He said the financial donation helped get the organization going again.
Councillor Mitch Panciuk questioned Mills over the name change.
Councillor Jack Miller said Belleville is fortunate to have Mills who started the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame and gives expertise and sustainability to the organization.
He pointed out the organization is not a city committee.
Defibrillator coming downtown
Representatives of the local Canadian Red Cross and Heart and Stroke organizations appeared before Belleville council Monday night urging local businesses to make more defibrillators available for public use.
One defibrillator has been bought and the idea is to have more throughout the city, at least five in the downtown.
Each one costs about $2,500.
Sandra Barnes of Heart and Stroke says if CPR or defibrillators are used right away it will double the chance of a collapsed person’s survival.
She said all schools in the Quinte area have a defibrillator.
Red Cross spokesperson Emma Travis says the new defibrillators now come with video instructions.
Quinte statistics are one of the lowest in Ontario with about 22% of people having high blood pressure and 27% still smoking.
Bus Route 10 changes
The pilot project to have bus service into Thurlow ward is winding down.
Belleville council learned Monday night that Route 10, providing service along Millennium Parkway and Maitlnd Drive was attracting minimal ridership, fewer than 20 riders a day.
The service is primarily providing service along the Loyalist – Bell Boulevard corridor.
Transit Manager Matt Coffey has suggested alternative models for transit service along the Thurlow streets, such as on-demand or flexible transit routes be considered in the future.
Meanwhile, Belleville is taking part in a study by the Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation Consortium that is looking at alternative transit services.
