GRAND LAKE: Residents have overwhelming chosen the type of redevelopment Laurie Park will undergo, with minimal impact on day users.
Officials with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and a community-based group formed to look after issues dealing with the park, the Friends of Laurie Park, met with residents and park users for two public information meetings March 2 and March 3, to present two new options available to be voted on.
The two new meetings follow uproar from a Jan. 14, public meeting where it appeared DNR wasn’t taking local residents or day users into consideration when they said the park would be a camping park only.
Since that time, the group has created a website, www.savelauriepark.ca, and a Facebook group page, which on the first day had about 14 people, but now has more than 3,200.
Alan Eddy, regional manager with DNR, told the 140 people gathered at the Grand Lake Community Centre March 2 that it appeared officials were putting the ‘cart before the horse’ during the first meeting.
“We have heard the concerns through the letters, e-mails and the postings on the group’s Facebook page,” Eddy said. “All that information was considered when we put together these two options as best as possible.”
Susan Morash, one of the members behind the Friends of Laurie Park, said the group tried to represent the community’s wishes.
“At no time did we want to speak for you,” Morash said. “We made it clear we don’t want to make the decision. It’s a community decision.”
Residents chose the first option by a landslide 196 to 28 vote. The option residents have selected will see the majority of development take place in the current camping portion of the park with minimal change to day use access and activities. Existing day use roads and flow of traffic will essentially stay the same as it is currently.
Among some of the unique features as part of this option include unchanged day use access and activities; potential for more access to day use areas in 2010 pending construction requirements and public safety concerns and traffic pattern and flow unchanged for day use areas with repairs only to paved sections of day use area. It also is estimated to be 20 per cent cheaper then the second option.
Morash said the money from the federal government was earmarked for Laurie Park after it was selected from a list of about 50 projects the province submitted.
“We have the money for the project, but if we don’t want to use it then that’s okay,” she said. “However, there will be consequences in that we’ll lose that money.”
There are common changes that would be implemented in both options. Among that list is a new visitor's services area, which includes an office/administrative building, camping visitor parking, registration and bypass lanes and improved park entrance from Highway 2.
The construction will also see a central camper’s washroom with flush toilets and showers, a seasonal floating dock to be installed at shoreline tenting sites (no boat trailer access to the lake will be provided). For day use, among the common changes will be park programming area with a gathering area at a camp fire circle for interpretive and educational events. In the previous conceptual proposal this was labelled as an amphitheatre.
Other changes will see a shoreline walking path to Big Head, which will provide improved accessibility, upgraded existing service clusters to include privy, water tap and recycling stations; a fence at a bedrock ridge shoreline to be repaired and maintained.
The campground capacity will be reduced from 71 small sites to roughly 45 upgraded campsites, including a mix of walk-in only, tenting and small trailer. There will be about 7-10 sites dedicated to larger trailer/RV’s.
The second option would have seen the traffic flow being altered. One road would lead to a new parking lot and pedestrian only trails that go to the lower shoreline areas and picnic sites; the centre road would have been upgraded to allow for two way travel using pull offs for passing which would have provided access to an improved parking lot at shoreline trail to Big Head and canoe/kayak drop off area at the old boat launch site and a section of the existing shoreline road would have been changed to pedestrian only use.
The changes in the first option are estimated to be 20 per cent less then the second option.
None of the changes will be done to the parks shoreline.
“We heard the message that the shoreline is the jewel in the crown and people didn’t want us to touch it,” Eddy said. “They (the people who sent feedback) told us to keep our hands off the shoreline.”
Several in the crowd questioned how the community would be kept abreast and updated on the progress being made once construction begins. Morash said she had a simple solution as part of the process and that would be periodic progress updates.
“It’s meant to show you what’s going on,” she said. “People want a say.”
Eddy explained DNR hopes to hold one or two open houses for the community as the construction is going on to show what is taking place.
“DNR has a tremendous interest in what takes place at the park, so we’re not going to materially change things,” Eddy answered. “No one wins if we make this an ugly place.”
Dustin and Melina Garnett live three houses from Laurie Park and their property adjoins to the park. Both had concerns the public would get hurt without their input. They were among the 64 people at the second meeting on March 3.
“It seemed like we were shut out at the first meeting (Jan. 14),” Garnett said. “It seemed like they (DNR) had their mind made up, nobody had any notice to really think about it or have any input. This meeting was very good. I’m happy they had this and allowed us to vote.”
He’s happy something is going to be done to the aging park.
“It’s going to be nice for them to upgrade it with minimal impact,” he added.
Morash said there were things in both options she liked and things she didn’t like.
“We have a clear decision so now we can move forward,” she said. “It’s just not about making sure we don’t lose the stimulus money, but it’s about making sure the park does get the upgrades it deserves and the community deserves. That can happen now.”
phealey@enfieldweeklypress.com