THUNDER BAY – The City of Thunder Bay and the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority held an open house Wednesday to discuss proposed improvements at the Mountdale/Neste Boat Launch and surrounding park area, and to go over the results of a public survey on the issue.
“So far the people that have attended have been boaters, I’d say for the most part, and they’ve been giving us their suggestions on how to make boater circulation better, whether it be from launch, to parking, to their boats,” said Werner Schwar, supervisor of parks and open space planning.
Parking was a common concern brought up by those in attendance. Norman Gorre, a local boater, said he’s glad the city is seeking community input but hopes it takes what locals have to say to heart.
“The fact that they’re having it is a good idea, because what they’re drawing shows is absolutely no dock going into the water adjacent to the landing, which creates a hazard. Anybody trying to load senior citizens or young children presently, they can stand on the dock and get down into the boat. If that dock is gone, it’ll be dangerous,” said Gorre.
“The other thing is they show a bunch of trailer and car parking in the middle here, but, there isn’t enough space to make the turn to get in straight and to get out again, and no turning around area now for boats to back in to the water. So they have some changes that they have to look at.”
The city has heard those concerns and the will be looking at the plans again, said Schwar.
“There’s no question that we have a limited size site. We have a lot of competing interests and quite honestly, there’s not enough room for everything to happen here,” he said.
“So it is going to be a compromise in terms of what space can we turn over to people for usability, social equity, that sort of thing, and what space do we leave over for boat parking and trailer parking.”
