Last year the outbreak of COVID-19 forced the city to push back on the use of the Elliott Lake fishing pier and boat slips for one season.
Elliot Lake's Manager of Economic Development Ashten Vlahovich updated members of Elliot Lake City Council Monday night on plans for re-opening this year.
She presented Council's virtual meeting with a proposal for the management of the boat slips at Elliot Lake boat launch.
At the last meeting that we discussed this, council did support in-house management of the area, and continues to recommend that the area be divided into 10 and 10 of those slips (day use and seasonal).
We've kept a list going, and of those members of the public who will be notified, should this pass tonight. And then, Ontario is progressing through its opening phases so marinas are eligible to be open.
As part of the work that was done as due diligence, we drafted a rental agreement that will act as the information and fee structure.
Seasonal rentals will be all located on one side of the unit and short term will be on the other side so it's very easy for staff to understand the difference, where each is parking.
So, the two types of rentals, as I noted are short term and seasonal. Short term will be completed through utilizing the staff at the Welcome Centre trailer with the park rental agreement and then payment (will be made) at the trailer.
Short term is intended for tourism visitors. This is to make it simpler for those who are here, either camping in trailer park or visiting family, to make it easier for them to enjoy our watersports nearby instead of having to tow in and tow out.
Seasonal spots are typically going to run from the opening of the May long weekend and until the Thanksgiving weekend. So for this year the seasonal spot is recommended to be from July 27 to October. Fee structures will be prorated because of the short season.
The fee structure is: daily $8 (those renting less than one week, not day use), weekly $55, monthly $150 and seasonally $350. All fees are +HST.
Coun. Ed Pearce said payment options should be available at the boat launch, not across Highway 108 at the Welcome Centre trailer.
"My other concern is enforcement. We currently have two bylaw enforcement officers. Who is going to be enforcing this?"
"I'm assuming it's going to be just them. If that's the case, are they going to be spending their weekends at the boat docks, making sure that people are adhering to the system?"
"Or are we going to find some say other way to see that it is properly handled?" Pearce said.
On an amendment from Coun. Norman Mann, it was decided to hold off on offering the seasonal option for this year, til more key issues are sorted out.
He was concerned about possible conflicts if boaters had equipment breakdowns and were forced to occupy courtesy spaces until their problems were remedied. Mann felt it could lead to safety issues due to overcrowding.
The revised no seasonal space docking plan for this year passed Council with all except Sandy Finamore, in favour.