By Jaymie White
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
– with files from René J. Roy
PORT AUX BASQUES – The most recent town council meeting took place on Wednesday evening, Aug. 10. Matters discussed at the meeting included Come Home Year, Scott’s Cove Park, the letter from a resident of Kyle’s Lane.
Come Home Year
Mayor Brian Button started the meeting off with a special congratulations and message of thanks for the Come Home Year Committee, who he said worked hard to ensure the festival’s success.
“Between it all, I think it was a great time and hats off to the committee for your work,” said Button. “For all of you and your sleepless hours, we thank you for it.”
Scott’s Cove Park
Town Manager Leon MacIsaac said that renovations to Scott’s Cove Park is underway. He said that the deck is being finished off, and then they will be posting the signage.
“They finished work today on the parking area across from Scott’s Cove, making tier a seating area so we can get some topsoil and sod put in there, maybe a couple of benches and seats up there so people can sit and view Scott’s Cove while getting away from some of the congestion,” said MacIsaac.
MacIsaac added that, even with cars parked in front, people will still have a clear view of the stage and everything happening in Scott’s Cove.
Kyle Lane
Mayor Button turned the meeting over to Deputy Mayor Mark Andrews in order to avoid any conflicts. Andrews asked if there were any updates on the letter from a resident of Kyle Lane.
Councillor Jim Lane stated that as discussed at previous meetings, this matter was discussed and because a new RV park was going up, they asked residents of Kyle Lane to be patient for the signage. Now that the private RV park is up and running, Lane said council needs to decide together what is going to be posted with regards to overnight parking.
He said something should be put up clarifying that areas are daily parking only; however, there are areas to refer to if overnight parking is required. He doesn’t think anything should be posted that would cause an issue; only something that will clarify where people can go for overnight parking.
Andrews asked for clarification as to why a sign would be placed there at all, and specifically if those parking overnight were causing any issues. Lane said it’s not that they are causing issues, but instead it’s about not hurting the businesses in town.
“We cannot be viewed as allowing people free parking and cutting in on the businesses. So if we allow that, it’s going to hurt the business that just started up,” said Lane.
Councillor Gwen Davis agreed; however, she said anything done has to be done in the right way.
“We don’t want to drive people out of our town. These tourists, we want them to spend their money here. We don’t want them to spread the word that this is the type of reception they got here in Port Aux Basques. It has to be handled in the right way. We don’t want to push anybody out.”
MacIsaac said they absolutely don’t want anybody to take it upon themselves to put out signage on behalf of the town.
The fear on council’s minds is that, by putting signage up, residents in the area may take it upon themselves to police it, and that will definitely drive people out of the town, so the matter has to be discussed at length and discussed properly.
The matter was tabled for the remainder of the meeting to be discussed when all councillors are present.
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