The location of a float plane training area has some cottagers on Eva Lake fuming.
“Last Saturday, the air traffic on that lake was really crazy. The planes just kept on coming,” said Wayne Miller, who owns property at Eva Lake.
Confederation College moved their float plane training operations from Lake Shebandowan to Eva Lake this spring and is operating out of the Quetico College School.
With another float plane operator already in the area, Miller said he’d like to see the college operation leave the area.
However, his main issue is that he feels residents were not consulted about the move.
“It was a done deal before we even went and saw. No one had any input whatsoever into the situation,” he said.
The college will be using the area to train aviation students from Monday to Saturday. On weekdays, they will be begin flying at 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Saturdays. They can flight as late as 9 p.m.
Confederation College held an open house about the move on May 25.
Miller said there are a lot of upset people at the lake.
Eva Lake has about 72 cottages and with two plane operations, the air traffic is shocking, Miller added.
Saturday the college was running solo testing in addition to their normal testing, which adds to the traffic.
Miller believes there were more than 30 takeoffs and landings between the two operations.
College spokeswoman Sue Prodaniuk said they looked at several lakes for their float plane training, but this one was assessed as being optimal for the training because of space and time required.
“Eva Lake provides a good opportunity for our pilots,” she said.
Cottagers weren’t notified of the move until late May because the college was still negotiating with the Quetico College School.
“Once we had finalized our agreement with them, we communicated immediately following that,” she said.
Another open house will be held in July and the college was a website set up to address concerns.
Eva Lake residents can also register to communicate with the college directly if they have operational items they want to be made aware of.
