Open letter to Mayor and City Council:
I have just read the article in the Gazette (Oct. 1) regarding plans to construct a 500-metre chain link fence at Lacombe Park Lake at a cost of $65,000 and I am incensed.
I have lived in Lacombe Park for 35 years and have walked and/or run the Red Willow Trail to Lacombe Park Lake almost daily. I have enjoyed the natural beauty of the lake and have always been so thankful that we have such a beautiful spot so close by. In the past couple of years I have been concerned with the work that has been going on at the lake and most recently the installation of a four-foot high wooden fence around approximately 90 per cent of the lake. Now you want to add a 500-metre chain link fence that is going to completely destroy the beauty and openness of this park. What next, a locked gate requiring a password?
In all the years that I have been to the lake I can honestly say that I have never been witness to any conflict or safety concerns nor problems caused by dogs. I don't presently have a dog although I have had for most of the last 35 years and my pets always enjoyed the freedom of the lake with never a problem. Is this another example of a small minority determining our rights and freedoms? I find it hard to believe that 69 per cent of the "users of Lacombe Lake Park" would agree with the findings of your Administrative Public Survey, and certainly would not vote for a chain link fence.
I urge you to reconsider this decision and leave some of the beauty in our Botanical Arts City.
Bruce Childs, St. Albert
