Grey Highlands council wants help from the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority to solve a local parking issue.
At its meeting on Oct. 16, council voted in favour of trying to negotiate a long-term agreement with the conservation authority to solve a winter parking issue near Old Baldy on sideroad 7B.
The ongoing winter parking problem has been a tricky situation for the municipality for years. Sideroad 7B is a steep, narrow and winding road and the municipality does not provide winter snow plowing on the entire road because it is too hazardous on some sections.
As a result, a number of residents on the road are not able to park at their homes during the winter months when their section of the road can’t be plowed.
At one time, residents parked in the Old Baldy parking lot, which is owned by the conservation authority. However, last year, the authority implemented a parking fee of $500 and required local residents wishing to park in the lot to sign an agreement for the lot’s usage. Grey Highlands reimbursed the $500 fee to the few residents who signed the parking agreement. The deal, however, was only for one winter, which has prompted local residents to request a more permanent solution to the issue.
At the meeting, local residents Vojka Glazar and Angela Kozlovic spoke to council about the issue.
At staff report on the matter presented several options for council to consider including:
- Maintaining the status quo of the municipality not plowing the entire road in the winter.
- Continue the parking agreements with the conservation authority with the municipality reimbursing the fees to local residents.
- Find a private contractor to provide winter maintenance on the section of sideroad 7B that the municipality does not maintain during the winter months.
- Negotiate an agreement with local residents allowing them to find a private contractor to maintain the road in the winter.
- Reconstruct the road to a standard that would allow full winter maintenance from the municipality.
Municipal staff recommended continuing with the status quo and noted that they had contacted the conservation authority about continuing the parking agreements and were waiting for a response.
After a lengthy discussion on the issue, council voted in favour of continuing the status quo of no winter maintenance on the road, but directed staff to negotiate a no-cost, permanent agreement with the conservation authority to allow residents to park at the Old Baldy parking lot.
In pointed comments on the issue, Mayor Paul McQueen said it was time for the conservation authority to step up and help solve the issue. McQueen said it is not right that local residents on the road were expected to pay for parking at a lot that is open to other members of the public and is plowed in the winter by the municipality.
“I think it’s wrong. I don’t think it’s fair,” said McQueen. “There never used to be a change for parking. Something changed.”
McQueen was the lone member of council to favour looking into the option of finding a private contractor to maintain the road in the winter, but the rest of council was not interested in that option. Other members of council preferred seeking an arrangement with the conservation authority for use of the Old Baldy lot.
Coun. Nadia Dubyk said many years ago it was the municipality that created the parking lot at the Old Baldy property and the municipality continues to provide snow plowing for the lot.
“I think we have a case for free parking for our residents,” said Dubyk, who represents Grey Highlands on the conservation authority board of directors.
