Harbour Advisory Committee wants to see improvements to parking lot

The Port McNeill Harbour Advisory Committee submitted a plan to council that, if approved, would see improvements to Parking Lot B that would in turn help the harbour meet the growing need for overnight parking.

According to the report presented at the regular meeting of Port McNeill council (March 9), the Harbour Advisory Committee feels increased capacity is needed for visitors wishing to park their vehicles while they explore the Broughton Archipelago and neighbouring communities by boat.

Committee members feel upgrades to the parking lot along with a new drainage system would also assist in mitigating flooding during heavy rains or high tides.

The presentation went on to explain that there would be an additional opportunity to improve recycling capacities for visiting boaters.

Recognizing that throughout the summer, the Town of Port McNeill, “welcomes hundreds of guests coming in through our harbour,” the committee feels this would be an ideal time to address the long-standing need for recycling at the harbour front.”

However, given the strict policies established by RecycleBC to help prevent mixing of waste materials, they went on to recommend that the town engage with the Regional District of Mount Waddington and seek their advice and best practices on how to avoid some of the common problems and obstacles encountered in similar situations.

No formal, detailed costing was available but estimates ranging upwards of $50,000 were discussed.

Council received the Harbour Advisory Committee report, accepted the recommendations in principle, and will bring it forward to the 2021 budgeting process.

In other news, Kevin Brooks from McElhanney Ltd. advised council that results from the Active Transportation Network Plan survey indicated that the number one item the community would like to see included in the plan was the development of a Multi Use Trail along the Mine Road Corridor. Next on the priority list were pedestrian-safe crosswalks at the intersections of Campbell Way and Mine and Campbell Way and Haddington.