BONNYVILLE - Councillors for the MD of Bonnyville have cancelled plans to create a walking trail through a municipal reserve to Crane Lake in favour of maintaining trails that already exist.
In February, council originally approved the creation of a trail access on the south side of the lake at a cost of $10,000. On Aug. 11, Esther Quiambao, the MD's interim general manager for planning and community services, said the municipality received feedback from residents concerned about the topography and need for the path, given the presence of other paths just down the road in a larger municipal reserve area.
A site visit proved that out.
“Upon the site visit, we found that the terrain has a very steep slope on it,” Quiambao explained. “There's actually trees on the shoreline and it's a very rocky location. Obviously, we would not be able to remove those trees, and the pathway would require stairs given its steep slope.”
Just 150 metres east of the proposed site, three existing trails provide access to the lake. Those trails will now be maintained as natural trails, and signage will be installed to draw attention to them.
Ward 5 Coun. Dana Swigart said he's met with residents in the area and believes there will be more discussion on the issue, but was happy with the plan to maintain the existing trails instead.
“There's several (municipal reserves) on the lake there that people are using, and some of them know about them, and some of them don't because they're not marked,” he said.
“It makes more sense to have that bigger (reserve) – it's a fair amount wider, there's better access, and if we just kept these (reserves) tidied up and cleared, with signage and stuff, the people who aren't on lakeshore that don't have that access then have walking paths they can use to get to the lake.”
Discussion looming on municipal reserves
How the MD manages its municipal and environmental reserve lands should be the subject of a future strategic planning session, said chief administrative officer Al Hoggan, and in the not-too-distant future, councillors can expect to see an environmental reserve bylaw presented.
Hoggan said he's heard from residents with differing opinions on how these reserve lands should be maintained, and who should and shouldn't have access, and he expects it will be a tricky subject to navigate.
“I've had multiple phone calls from people telling me we're not doing enough, and other people telling me to leave them absolutely alone,” he said.
“It will be a little bit of a Pandora's Box when we get into it.”
