This letter expresses Council concerns regarding park access right, added costs to the community, conflicts with park users, and lack of consultation. The letter is also available in Adobe PDF format. [Letter from North Kawartha Council ]
Ministry of Natural Resources Management Advisory Board C/O Kawartha Highlands Project Office Box 500 106 Monck Road Bancroft, ON K0L 1C0
Attention: Kim Dunford , Chairperson Dear Mr. Dunford : We have been expecting to hear from the M anagement Advisory Board regarding the management plan for the upcoming season in the Kawartha Highlands Signature Site. The charter states "Planning of the Park should be coordinated with the municipalities so as to respect municipal responsibilities." The charter further states "The park management plan and the ongoing management of the park will recognize the essential role played by municipalities." Page 10. We are particularly concerned with the fact that the Ontario Living Legacy Local Stakeholder Committee advised the public that cottage access roads would not be used to access the new park, and indeed the charter states on page 11 (2) "two new roads will be constructed in the park, one of which shall provide public access to the park from the western border of the park and the other shall provide public access from the eastern border of the park." We are therefore requesting clarification on what access points will be utilized and what roads will be used. If municipal roads are going to be used, which appears certain for the summer of 2004, what compensation is being considered to the township for increased maintenance? We have not been contacted by Ontario Parks or your committee on your plan to handle the garbage and recycling generated by park visitors. Will your committee be placing bins for these two purposes at your access points? Will park staff be responsible for picking up the garbage and recycling? Since the township of North Kawartha is in the process of developing a waste plan, which could include waste pick up, please advise and we will have the service company quote on waste and recycling bins at your access areas. We have received no word on a compensation package to reimburse our Fire Department to put out or control fires, which people build too large, and or leave unattended. Please advise on Parks Ontario policy in this regard. We have had a 59% increase in our policing cost, and with the influx of people using the Park, the number of calls could significantly increase. Has the Management Advisory Board put a plan in place for reimbursement or will you be making a separate contract with the O.P.P? We are already receiving letters and calls from ratepayers advising us that their cottage road, which they built and maintain, are being clogged with cars, people parking in private driveways and going camping for two or three days. We are also receiving complaints that visitors are advising landowners that they might own the building but they can go across their land because it is a Provincial Park, and proceed to do so. What liability is Ontario Parks undertaking if someone is injured on private property? Who is liable for damage to private property caused by campers and canoers ? We have already been advised of campfires on private property. Who is going to educate the public as to provincial park rules, and why is it still being advertised with no infrastructure in place? The Management Advisory Board has been meeting since last summer, we would hope that the process to solve these concerns has been dealt with, and we are requesting an answer as soon as possible. The Associations in the area received a newsletter and map for the public to check the boundary of the new Park. North Kawartha and Galway Cavendish Harvey Townships planned an open house so that all our ratepayers could check their own property and other boundaries. We planned to send the notification out in our tax bills at the end of February. The closing date for input as you know is February 25 th , so Reeve Whelan phoned Nancy Wilson the co-coordinator and asked for an extension in order to give us time to set up the meeting. We were advised very matter of factly that February 25 th , was the date, it was 30 days, and it was on the website. To have these deadlines for input so tight and further have them in the middle of winter in an area where 75% of the residents affected are in the Greater Toronto area, St. Catherine's etc is not satisfactory. Further the map sent with the package is woefully inadequate. ( page 9 section 3) "The minister shall ensure that the management plan for the park and any major revisions to that plan are prepared with prior public consultation" (page 6 d) "That decisions with respect to the development and any major revision of the management plan for the park are made with prior public consultation" We will be contacting the Minister to see if the boundary letter and refusal of an extension fits the description in the charter. In future we are requesting that the public input be a lot more than a letter and a website listing, especially when it comes to roads and trails and how the area is going to be accessed. The latest survey shows that 45% of the population have computers; the website therefore is not reaching 55% of the people. We also have many ratepayers who are concerned about their access to the area: as an example you have many local people whose taxes have built and maintained the roads, and who go fishing or boating on the lakes with their children and grand-children. Will these people now be told that they will have to pay a park fee to drive in a road they built, to spend a day on a lake with their children? We wish to reinforce our previous request to have a member of North Kawartha Council as part of the Management Advisory Board. As the Charter clearly recognizes that the municipalities have a major role to play it is imperative that North Kawartha Council is an active participant of the Management Advisory Board. The Council of the North Kawartha Township wishes to recommend Arnold Brown as their representative to the Management Advisory Board. Mr. Brown is our newly elected councillor at large and a Kawartha Highlands Signature Site multi use stakeholder including 3rd generation cottager, recreational camp lessee, canoer and angler. We sent you a copy of this request and are now requesting your recommendation on this matter to the Minister. With the understanding that the Management Advisory Board is using the charter as a working document for interim management solutions, what is your timeframe for implementation of a management plan? We look forward to your reply so that we can advise our residents. Yours truly, Council, Township of North Kawartha c.c . Monique RolfvondenBaumen -Clark, MNR Township of Galway-Cavendish and Harvey NORKLA SGKH
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