Council was presented with a revised design for the three-year trial public parking lot established in partnership with the Sundre Hotel and Restaurant as requested during the previous meeting.
“We do have a new drawing showing some larger spaces for the RV and trailer parking,” said Linda Nelson, chief administrative officer, during the June 24 meeting.
“But this is a concept. So it’s very possible, during the trial period for this parking, that this could change a number of times. There’s nothing permanent, it’s not being paved at this time. There are no concrete bumper stops, currently there are just rubber bumper stops,” said Nelson.
Coun. Cheri Funke wondered about the duration of the trial period and whether a final design proposal would be brought back before council.
Nelson said a three-year memorandum of understanding had been entered into with the hotel owner.
“Should this become permanent, we would ask for a more permanent type of agreement, such as an access and parking easement agreement,” said Nelson.
“But currently it’s just a trial — we want to make sure it’s the right location, and that it is actually beneficial to the community.”
Coun. Richard Warnock asked about the design’s entries and exits, and sought clarification regarding how those aspects would change moving forward should they not work.
“We do have an opportunity to punch an access through onto the laneway,” said Nelson.
“We also initially talked about putting an access through onto Centre Street. So there’s all sorts of options that we could look at,” she said.
But for the time being, she added the best course of action is to trial the proposed design to see what works and what does not, and adjust as needed from there.
Funke, who was supportive of the project, expressed a concern about potentially accelerating the deterioration of Centre Street, which is already showing considerable signs of wear.
“If this parking lot is utilized as much as I hope it is, do we have a backup plan for fixing Centre Street?” the councillor asked.
Nelson said repairing that section of Centre Street is not currently in the municipality’s 10-year capital plan, but that if deemed necessary, during the fall budget workshop council could consider including the project in long-term capital plans.
Coun. Charlene Preston’s motion to approve the revised conceptual design carried unopposed.
