Cabin owners and others who are vying to keep Lemsford Ferry Regional Park open, met with the Park’s Board of Directors last Wednesday to have their voices heard and questions answered regarding the fate of the Park.

Previous to the July 26 meeting, Randy Geissler, cabin owner and member of the Park’s advisory committee, shared the board had expressed an interest in closing the park permanently as of December 31, 2019. The board stated in a meeting with Geissler, the concern stemmed from the costs associated with restoring the grounds to their original state if the park went under, as one-third of the land is leased by the province and the restoration is apart of the lease agreement.

The restoration was estimated to cost upwards of $2 million, and if done now, would be split between six municipalities who make up the Park’s board.

After the initial announcement of the tentative December 31 closing date, Geissler and other cabin owners and park enthusiasts, rallied together to gain support for the park with the hope of convincing the board to leave it open.

Geissler shared the pertinent questions and stated there are a lot of variables surrounding the situation including

-The Park is at a point of making money, therefore, why close down a profitable business on the chance it may close in the future?

-Why would the board members spend the $2 million in the restoration of the land back to its original state if they do not have to, now or in the future?

-The province did state there would be an option to buy the land and therefore no longer be held to the lease terms requiring the restoration of the land at any point, what are the details surrounding this and is it a viable option?

-What would happen to the cabin’s that people own or have just purchased within the park if it does close?

-If it does remain open, what guarantee is there that this will not be brought up again in five years time, as it was brought up not too many years ago already?

These questions among other concerns were what the park advocates looked to address during the meeting held in Sceptre last Wednesday. In addition, they wanted to present the board with the 1100 signatures collected through online and in-person petitions, advocating for the park to stay open.

Upwards of 80 people attended the meeting, with, according to Geissler, 99 per cent of who were in favour of the park staying open.

Although Geissler stated the board was receptive and respectful of all of their opinions and concerns, a lot of questions were left without any definitive answers or clarifications as to their reasoning why.

When asked, “Why not just leave the park open, it is not costing the board anything at this point, why close it and go through the restoration process if they do not have to?’, Geissler stated they never received any clarification, “To be honest, they kind of just side-stepped the question, we didn’t really get any kind of answer”.

He further explained that no logistics have been explored in reference to closing down the park, “In my personal opinion, I don’t think they actually have a plan in place, I asked – have they done a clean-up analysis etcetera, and they haven’t, which left us asking why are they discussing closing it if they don’t have any of that in place”.

Geissler said one of the explanations for the initial statement of possible closure was the municipalities not wanting to use a significant amount of the residents’ tax dollars on the park. Geissler expressed he did understand, yet when he and others were going door-to-door with their petition, the great majority of residents in the surrounding communities were in favour of having the park stay open.

Furthermore, Geissler stated they have not received, to date, any significant amount of money from the board and have been able to resurrect the state of the park by the efforts of the cabin owners and money brought in specifically by the park. Although those municipalities were supposed to be contributing on an annual basis, Geissler said, for the most part, those are yet to be seen.

“Leader was one of the communities, up until a couple years ago, that was faithful in contributing, but we have not seen much of anything from the other RM’s and communities and have done most of the stuff ourselves to get the park back up to a profitable place. They have helped in the way of bringing some gravel down and there have been a few helping hands, but cash wise, there has not been, not since I have been there which has been the past 13 years,” said Geissler.

Geissler argues that if money were put into the park, it would attract more people and would be even more profitable than it is now. Additionally, with more people coming to the park, the greater the possibility for visitors also spending money in the surrounding communities as well.

A representative from the Ministry of Parks and Recreation was also present at the meeting. Geissler said he outlined the perks and drawbacks for either leaving the space open as a regional park or alternatively, purchasing the land and operating as a private park. Geissler shared he did not elaborate on either of the topics nor were purchasing or restoration terms discussed.

Now, after park advocates shared their thoughts, opinions and concerns with the board, Giessler said they are back in limbo.

“We still don’t really know what is happening, of course, they have to deliberate, but we had a lot of our questions left unanswered and they basically said, it would be taken under advisement, and that’s kind of where it’s been left”.

He estimates the board will take a couple of weeks to discuss among themselves before returning with either answer to the previously asked questions or possible options to alleviate the perceived problems with the park. Alternatively, they could also come back with a yes or no decision, on whether the park will remain open, or if this will be the last season campers will be able to utilize the facilities.

For now, Geissler said he and other park users are going to continue to put time into the park and enjoy all that it has to offer on the off-chance that this is their last year to do so.

Members from the Lemsford Ferry Regional Park Board were reached out to for comment.