A flurry of social media posts on Cochrane's notorious Rants and Raves site proves that people are listening.

Many community members recently voiced their opinion on Cochrane's only spray park charging admission and from that discussion, residents will see some reprieve for this summer.

Besides staff and board members of Spray Lakes Sawmills Family Sports Centre (SLSFSC) following the thread so were board members of Bow Rivers Edge Campground (BREC), a society representing the Town of Cochrane, Rocky View County, Lions and Rotary. In response, BREC has generously stepped forward with a sponsorship for SLSFSC to open the gate of the spray park for free on Wednesday's and Sunday's beginning next week (July 25).

Glenn Congram, Past Chairman of BREC shares when the board heard community concerns about cost, they wanted to do something to help out. "The idea is that if we get people to use it then they will find the value and use it even more. Also our campground neighbours the Spray Lake facility and it is a perk for our campers and guests who use the pool and now can enjoy the spray park also."

Congram did not disclose the monetary amount of the sponsorship as he felt it is less about the actual cost and more about adding value to the community. "This way we'll get the ball rolling and more people using the park. We are a non-profit organization and the goal of BREC is to reinvest back into the community."

Robin Mitchell, General Manager of SLSFSC is thankful for the sponsorship opportunity and is looking forward to seeing more families enjoy themselves for free on Wednesday's and Sunday's. "It will provide the ability for the general public to access the spray park not from inside the facility like it currently happens but on two days a week to be able to access it through the gate on the grassed area for free."

Due to the community concerns over the past couple of weeks, SLSFSC began to investigate how they could alter access. When the Jayman Built Aquatic Centre was built, Mitchell says it was understood that access could only be provided through guest services. "For us to be able to allow people to just go in and use the spray park from the inside we would have no way of knowing who paid for it and who didn't. But the discussion enabled us to look at if we actually isolated the spray park a couple of days a week how would we go about doing it."

Getting approval from Alberta Health Services was part of the discussion and residents should be aware that during the sponsored times there will not be supervised staff manning the spray park all the time. "We used to staff it with a guard all the time but on those sponsored times we have advertised that we don't have supervised staff out there to man it. But we will over the remainder of this summer send guards out to monitor and make sure there are no concerns, it is not too crowded and no one gets hurt. We will be able to assist in all ways through a partial set up."

Mitchell is not sure what future accessibility will look like for the spray park beyond this summer. "To be honest and fair we just want to see what kind of usage comes out to the spray park before we make any decisions or start rumours on future planning. We will wait and see what the twelve days before the end of summer brings us in terms of numbers."

While it may not be the perfect solution Cochranites want to see, Mitchell says they are listening and will continue to make improvements where they can. "We monitor social media very closely and while we don't respond to everything we follow trends and listen to what our community and Rocky View County have to say. Where possible we either try to amend, change, hone it so it's better or acknowledge the fact that it's there and we can't do anything about it. We encourage people to continue to use social media to let us know how we're doing. I think most people are excited about the facility and how it's being run but there are pieces we can always learn from and try to adjust."

The spray park will be accessible for free on the two days from 10 am to 6 pm until September 2, with access only occurring through the gate on the outside. Community members can also look forward to seeing picnic tables placed on the grass area and are encouraged to pack a lunch, picnic blanket, enjoy the sunshine and stay for a while.