High River Council's thrown another $30,000 into the pot for a study on the former CPR corridor through downtown.

Mayor Craig Snodgrass says it's an important piece of property that the town owns, and whatever goes there, it needs to be done right.

"You can do it real basic or you can actually plan it out and incorporate pieces of pedestrian connectivity, throughout a safe parking lot as well as incorporating a piece of public space," he says. "There's been a lot of talk around that museum area or incorporating something in, I've seen designs of spray parks for kids in the summertime and in the winter time they serve as a skating rink, something like that."

Councillor Don Moore questioned the amount of money for the consultants saying the Town basically already knew what it wanted there. He says he was shocked at the amount considering the work the Town's already done and suggested that money, or at least a portion, could be used for landscaping.

He also suggested the Town's planning staff could hold consultations with the public to determine what should go there.

Mayor Snodgrass says they're too busy.

"Our planning people don't have the time to take something like this on, so yes, you've got to pay consultants to help you out and, newsflash, consultants are expensive, but it's extremely important, it has to be done right, that's all there is to it," Snodgrass says.

Councillor Cathy Couey agreed the study's expensive but says it's a critical piece of land, councillor Bruce Masterman says they (council) made it a priority and it needs to be done right.