CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. - The proposed floating dock for Victoria Park in Charlottetown will not be going ahead this year.
City council announced at its regular public monthly meeting on Monday that consultations must first take place with the Charlottetown Harbour Authority and that a written agreement must also be signed.
The city had already spent $51,000 on the floating dock and had passed the move unanimously.
Furthermore, council felt there isn’t enough time to get everything done this year, so the matter has been put off until at least next spring.
Coun. Mitchell Tweel, chairman of parks and recreation, was asked by the media following the council meeting why the city didn’t ensure that it had the agreement with the port authority in place before going ahead and spending the money and approving it themselves.
“That’s a very good question,’’ Tweel said. “I’ve talked with senior administration here and the number one priority they felt was to have it pass through city council first. In hindsight, maybe you can say all of that paperwork should have been done prior to the resolution being presented to council.’’
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Tweel reiterated that the delay is because there simply isn’t enough time left in the fall for people to truly use it.
About 30 people packed into council chambers to hear council discuss the floating dock issue, many of them seniors.
Stella Newman said she was disappointed the matter was delayed and not killed outright.
“We were hoping for the resolution to come forth to be able to remove the floating dock from Victoria Park permanently, have it off the books, find another place for it,’’ Newman said. “There are lots of other places in Charlottetown that they can put this floating dock that will service these needs.’’
The dock is proposed to be constructed between the playground and the tennis courts and is to be designed for non-motorized craft and for people to walk out and enjoy the view.
Newman said the dock will create a traffic nightmare.
“Parking is the biggest issue there. There’s no parking now. With the pool and the small playground that we already have people are parking all the way up to the cannons . . . and when we get this new (accessible) playground up and running that will be a big issue. It is going to be a catastrophe of parking,’’ Newman said, noting there is simply no extra room for people to pull off and unload kayaks and canoes.
Newman said parks and recreation “didn’t have all their ducks in a row’’ by failing to realize it needed the port’s OK.
Tweel said the main objective of the floating dock was to have safer access to the water, noting that the majority of people using it also use the boardwalk.
