ST. PAUL – Representatives from the St. Paul Fish & Game Association (SPFGA) has asked County of St. Paul council to make a decision regarding a proposed project to improve an access road through a recreation lease to Lac Delorme, also called George’s Lake, during a delegation on Sept. 13 in council chambers.
Council, after much discussion, carried a motion to identify if George’s Lake can be added to the County’s regional tourism strategy. County of St. Paul CAO Sheila Kitz, explained after the meeting that the Regional Tourism Strategy the County is working on is funded by an Alberta Community Partnership Grant.
“This project is reviewing current tourism opportunities. We will add Lac Delorme (George’s Lake) to be reviewed under this project,” stated Kitz.
Ray Makowecki, Projects Chair with SPFGA, said the provincial government sent a note on October of 2018 to the SPFGA and previous County of St. Paul Reeve Steve Upham, staying the province wouldn’t be stocking the lake due to damages to the government fish stocking truck, which occurred while trying to get to the lake.
The Government of Alberta indicated they won’t be stocking the lake without improved road access.
Ray said the lake has been stocked with fish for over 50 years, providing fishing opportunities for residents and visitors. On Feb. 12, 2019, council at the time motioned to provide SPFGA with a letter of support for the project. The council also tabled the request to construct the road and parking lot for more information.
In March of 2019, the Alberta Conservation Association (ACA) approved a grant in support of the project, according to Ray. A lengthy process followed, which involved SPFGA arranging approval of a recreation lease from Indigenous communities.
According to a letter sent to the council by the SPFGA, the provincial government approved the recreation lease in March earlier this year. SPFGA decided to use the $5,000 funding from the ACA to buy gravel at the private sales rate of $16/tonne for the improvement of the access road.
In the same month, according to information from the letter, the County also supported the sale of gravel to the SPFGA. The SPFGA and the County inspected the site of the proposed road and parking area on May 22.
On Sept. 13, the SPFGA met as a delegation with the County council to discuss the next steps.
“It’s been five years we’ve played around with this,” said Ray to council on Sept. 13, explaining that a lot of volunteer hours, and some funds, have been invested throughout the process to make the project a reality.
“We burnt ourselves totally out on this and a few people aren’t wanting to go ahead with it,” he said, adding, the group is at the point of withdrawing their efforts, unless the municipality wants to carry the initiative forward as a community project.
Ray suggested that if County council choose not to participate, the $5,000 grant will either be given back to the ACA or it could possibly go toward another project.
Concerns
According to a prior estimate by the Public Works department, the cost to the County to improve the access would be around $19,000, after deducting the $5,000 for gravel.
Coun. Kevin Wirsta asked if access will be open to public use, to which Fishing Chair Clarence Makowecki responded, saying, “it would be an access for the public to use down to [George’s Lake],” and it will not be locked.
Coun. Maxine Fodness also asked if there were any opposition to the development of the access road, and Clarence said the biggest concern by neighbours was fire if there were campers in the area.
“They felt that there would campers there that would have fires and they could burn the area, because it’s a low use area,” said Clarence, adding they plan to include a no-camping area sign and “it would be a day-use" only site.
Reeve Glen Ockerman said he wanted to see the area that is leased to SPFGA accessible via the access road, and open to the public but raised concerns about enforcement if the area was misused.
Coun. Dale Hedrick questioned why the provincial government was willing to stock a lake with limited access.
“For us to do something like this, I don’t understand why the government wants to stock a lake that they don’t have access to,” said Hedrick, adding, “We have so many lakes around here with actual access, boat launches, but the government will stock a lake without even a boat launch.”
Ray said that as a former director of Alberta Fish and Wildlife, he saw many of the lakes in the area have never had that much of a stock, but George’s Lake has a great attraction for trout fisheries. “So, that’s why [George’s Lake] was on our list years ago as an important place to go,” said Ray.
Another concern brought forward by council was an oxygen deficit previously mentioned by the SPFGA. Ray said they plan to create an aeration system at the lake to deal with the problem. When asked where they will get the funding, he said SPFGA has a few sources they could request funding from.
Clarence said George’s Lake also traditionally did not require oxygen to survive and “the flooding has created a source for decaying matter in the lake that absorbs oxygen for a period of time that will eventually disappear.”
Fodness said she was concerned about investing $20,000 to improve access to a lake without knowing if the oxygen was going to increase for fish to survive. “There’s some work that needs to be done,” before money is invested, she said.
Coun. Ross Krekoski said he was in favour of developing the road and considers George’s Lake as potential for increased tourism in the area. He also said that the “anomalous” flood that caused the oxygen level to plummet at the lake was a one-time thing. “But I definitely don’t think we should put it as a high priority for Public Works this year,” said Krekoski.
According to administration, there are other higher priority projects that still need to be addressed, and there is no rush to complete the road access project.
As discussions wrapped up, council carried a motion to identify George’s Lake as a potential candidate to the County’s regional tourism strategy.
