Since last Wednesday, town crews have been busy clearing trees and making way for an expansion to the parking lot at the Library/Learning Centre which Mayor Jim Romane says “can't come fast enough.”
The lot currently offers 46 stalls for people to park. The decision to expand to 107 stalls is largely due to public concern with overflow parking spilling into the cemetery parking lot across the highway, which people have said is an inappropriate location, Romane confirmed during council May 15.
Removal began right away on May 16 with the intention of having more stalls available for the next planned big event at the centre — the library's grand opening June 28.
Council debated whether 107 stalls will be enough. “Are we just throwing another Band-Aid on it?” questioned Coun. Mark Kemball.
“Going from 46 to 107 is a very big Band-Aid,” pointed out Coun. Brian Spiller. “I think it might be all we need.”
Coun. Jason Heistad agreed. “We've had a lot of different events already so we know what issues we have with parking.”
The exact costs for paving of the stalls is yet to be determined. Shelley Gagnon, director of community services who presented the site plan to council, said once the plan is approved she could go back to the engineers to determine the exact cost of the paving as well as some of the landscape work that will need to be completed.
Currently council has $100,000 budgeted for the year to go towards the development of the centre, landscaping and the grand opening.
Council agreed the $100,000 likely won't be enough to complete the project in full this year, and stalls may be left as gravel until next year.
“You'd be surprised how much we can do,” said Romane of getting the trees cleared and ground groomed by town crews.
Council also discussed the possibility of using any grant funding and Darryl Joyce, director of corporate services said he would see if there were any grant dollars not allocated for other projects that could be used.
Additional parking is planned at the front of the lot, along the highway. Landscaping enhancements are also required, explained Gagnon. She said the original plan for the parking lot was to maintain a natural feel but that has caused grief in terms of long-term maintenance. Because there is no curb and gutter along the middle area of the lot where the trees and bark mulch are, a lot of the mulch was washed away in the spring. She said landscape enhancement plans include the removal of some of the trees in the south end of the middle area, adding curb and gutter and replacing the mulch with turf as well as some park furniture.
Some of the mulch in the area in the front of the library will be removed, and manicured turf with shrubs and flowerpots will be added along with park furniture. The entry to the centre will have extra shrubs added as well.
Gagnon said some trees can be replanted along the front end of the lot where they are currently being cleared for stalls.
