Chris Lowrey
MUNICIPALITY OF PONTIAC Feb. 14, 2018
After the conclusion of a preliminary study, residents of the Municipality of Pontiac will have their chance to voice their opinions on the options for a new boat launch.
The municipality will be hosting a public consultation on the options for a new boat launch on Tremblay Road on Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the Luskville Community Centre.
The consultation will give the municipality a chance to gauge the interest of the community when it comes to the options for fixing the boat launch.
The old boat launch, which is located at the end of Tremblay Road, was closed down in October of 2016 after the Ministry of Sustainable Development, the Environment and the Fight Against Climate Change said the ramp could send excess sediment into the Ottawa River.
The boat ramp is made of sand and gravel. The other option for the municipality was to change it to concrete at a cost that was initially pegged at around $50,000.
But that cost has skyrocketed to about $300,000 according to Municipality of Pontiac acting Assistant Director General Dominic Labrie.
The preliminary report was compiled by Argus Environment and suggested two possible options for a new boat ramp. Both options come in around the same price tag of $300,000.
“We got the big-picture options and the cost and we are very surprised,” Labrie said of the unexpected costs.
Labrie said the municipality can’t cover the entire cost of the project and will need to seek other funding avenues if the project goes ahead.
The municipality was also presented with three options for the most pressing issue – the parking arrangements around the boat launch.
In October of 2016, the parking issues were cited as one of the biggest headaches when it comes to the boat launch.
Labrie said in 2016 that the road leading to the boat launch is extremely narrow which makes it difficult for trucks pulling trailers to navigate, especially in the winter months for people looking to ice fish.
“If we solve the issue in the winter, we’ll have solved 90 per cent of the problem,” Labrie said.
The municipality was presented with three options to deal with the parking issues: The first option is to maintain the status quo; the second is to fill the culvert that is currently in place with gravel to create more parking; the third option could see the municipality acquire a parcel of nearby farmland that has recently come on the market.
The parking issue is especially dire considering this is one of only two boat launches in the municipality – the other is near the ferry in Quyon.
To compound matters, the Tremblay Rd. boat launch also serves as an access point to the river for the local fire department.
And to top all that off, many of the alternative options to fixing the Tremblay Rd. boat launch are on private roads, which would add unnecessary complications for the municipality.
