[4 Municipatty Yours - from page 1 such projects. Our quality of life and community have been socially richer, in my opinion, for the work done by this group of volunteers. In 2006, the Friends of the Black River Watershed were working on a vision statement that spoke to the need for residents to be “better educated” about that domain. In 2007, the new Council developed a Strategic Plan that spoke to developing low cost recreational opportunities to promote healthy and active living. In 2007, through the local Economic Development Action Plan exercise, Black River was identified as an asset and opportunity and listed among 35 potential projects for action efforts. Last year the Recreation Committee took on identifying “trails” in the community for low cost, multi- generational, recreational use, with Black River being included. The Black River project was to create a small launching site for canoes and kayaks at waterfront owned by the Municipality within the sand quarry off Chapman’s Crescent in Milford. This 20 acre parcel was purchased from Wilbert Brooks in 1962 with 455 feet of waterfront and “no encumbrances”. The area being considered, to allow for a dock and trail, would take up about 2 acres, half of that covered in dense trees. The docking area would involve about 20 feet of the shoreline. A length of about 350 feet, for a trail to the shore, would have to be fenced to separate it from the quarry. The opening to the trail would be about 40 inches wide to allow for a person(s) with a canoe or kayak to pass through. Parking for 3-4 cars would be along the Municipal access lane to the quarry. Knowing that taxpayer dollars cover the docks in all other parts of the County, it seemed reasonable to me to ask for funding support of this project in the 2010 budget, rather than use the Recreation Committee funds. I asked for $5,000 based on actual quotes for dock materials and fencing along with signage and some staff labour. Volunteer efforts would also come from the Rec Committee, if permitted. Staff provided their first response which was to wait until the quarry was no longer used for sand and then create a full municipal park in the location. I told them that wasn’t what was being asked for - nor did we need/want a municipal park in that location. They then provided their quote of $12,000 for a k launch with d fence installation and no volunteer involvement. |, The South Marysburgh Mirror 1 Council turned down the request for funds with Councillor Best saying something to the effect, “If you want this dock, you’re going to have to figure out another way to do it and pay for it - because we’re not.” I then met with staff of Public Works and Recreation, Parks and Culture and visited the site with them. We determined 7 things needed to be addressed: 1. approval from Quinte Conservation, which we had with a site visit and no permit fees required 2. approval from the Ministry of Natural Resources to have “co-habitation status” within the Certificate of Approval for the pit 3. approval of Council to permit the land use change within the pit, confirming the co-habitation 4. completion of the “re-zoning” process for about 1 acre of the area and Council approval. This is the stage at which public notification and formal input would normally occur. 5. A floating dock - The Recreation Dept offered up aused one they had in storage that needed some repair - though we agreed the shoreline was solid enough to probably go without a dock. 6. Public Works would be doing some fencing work with the pit anyway, since the Municipality was at risk with it currently being used by ATV’ ers. During that time, the necessary equipment would be in place to minimize fencing costs. I gather the fence markings for the trail went in prematurely. For that I can apologize, but I actually didn’t know it had happened at the time. Continued on page 14