The Rotary Club of Campbell River thinks there should be a washroom facility at one of the entrances to the Beaver Lodge Lands.
In a recent letter to the City of Campbell River, Rotary president Amy Stevenson says the club has formulated a plan for a bathroom – right down to design drawings – and is ready for the city to give them the go-ahead to have it installed.
City council, however, has its reservations.
The proposal would see the facility built “at or near the Trask Road entrance to the Beaver Lodge Lands trails,” and Coun. Charlie Cornfield said he, for one, would need more specifics than that before he could say whether he approves of that.
“Whose land is this proposed to be on?” Cornfield asked as council officially received the letter at its April 12 meeting. “Is it Beaver Lodge Forest Lands? Is it city land? Is it on the road right-of way? Who maintains the facility if it’s constructed? I have some concerns.”
Coun. Claire Moglove proposed that the letter be forwarded to city staff to produce a report on the project to have those very types of questions answered.
“I support the concept, in general,” Moglove says, but adds she has similar concerns to Cornfield. “Has Greenways Land Trust been consulted about this, because they have the contract to manage the lands, and I would also like to know what the operating costs would be, because those costs are added to our budget, which inpacts taxation.”
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Cornfield added that he’s of the understanding that the official plan for the lands doesn’t allow for permanent buildings – which this would be – and therefore it would likely be targeted for city property, which he has a problem with.
“The whole reason we got into the whole Beaver Lodge fiasco was that the government wanted to get out of its obligations to accepting it as a gift back in 1931,” Cornfield says. “I don’t think we should let them off the hook. It’s their responsibility to manage it. It’s their responsibility to live up to the trust obligation that was created when they accepted it as a gift. It has its own legislation and should be managed as such. I don’t want to see us get sucked into another maintenance program that requires additional taxpayer dollars.”
The motion to get staff to bring a report on the subject back to council passed unanimously. Mayor Andy Adams had recused himself before discussions began, as he is a member of the Rotary Club.
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