Clearwater town council has decided not to sell three small parks at this time.
The parks, located at Grizzly Heights, Ogden Road and Wildwood Road/Hydro Road, were set aside as parks when the land around them was subdivided.
Because of their small size they would be difficult to develop as parkland. However, the councillors felt they also would be unlikely to generate high enough prices to cover the cost of selling them.
“When we look at the costs and what we likely would get for them, it’s unlikely we could recoup what we would spend,” said councillor Dennis Greffard.
Even though they do not invite people to use the parks, there would be some liability concern about keeping the parks, said chief administrative officer Leslie Groulx.
On the other hand, disposing of the parks would involve surveying each of them at about $3,000 per lot, advertising for an alternative approval process, rezoning and amending the official community plan (which would require more advertising), a land appraisal plus sales notices and advertising.
Following a public input process, the District had already decided to retain two other small parks: at Fawn Road and at Lake Summit.
No more knotweed, please
Town council approved a request from chief administrative officer Leslie Groulx for staff to look into partnering with Thompson-Nicola Regional District on knotweed control.
Plant biologist Dr. Catherine Tarasoff recently alerted council to the presence of the noxious weed in a patch near Dutch Lake.
Since then at least one other site within the municipality has been identified.
The provincial government recently announced that it was providing $2.2 million to fight invasive plants in a three-year project within the TNRD, she pointed out.
The money is mostly being targeted at controlling knapweed outside the municipalities.
However, as Groulx said, “Weeds know no boundaries.”