FOPI REPORT TO CUMBERLAND COUNCIL
OCTOBER 1999
By Al Tweddle
ORGANIZATIONAL
The Friends of Petrie Island have:
IMPROVEMENTS TO THE SITE
OPERATION
PICNIC AREA USE
INTERPRETIVE PROGRAM
OBSERVATIONS ON USE
POINTS FOR CONSIDERATION NEXT YEAR
SUMMARY
FINANCIAL STATEMENT as of September 15, 1999
REVENUE
Cumberland |
$1000 |
Membership |
310 |
Maps |
25 |
Donations |
700 |
TOTAL |
$2035. |
EXPENSES
Toilet |
$ 690.80 |
Signs |
181.87 |
Materials/supplies |
146.10 |
TOTAL OPERATIONAL |
$1018.77 |
OTHER EXPENSES
Cell phone |
192.61 |
Interpretive prog. |
237.86 |
Share of Insurance policy 200 |
|
TOTAL OTHER |
$630.47 |
TOTAL EXPENSES |
$1649.24 |
BALANCE |
385.76 |
POTENTIAL EXPENDITURES FOR 2000
Picnic shelter |
$500 |
Picnic tables |
$400 |
Interpretive programs |
$400 |
Estimated Weekend supervision |
120 hours @$8.00/hour = $960/summer |
TABLE 1 - PETRIE ISLAND ATTENDANCE
TOTAL DAILY AVERAGE
1999 |
1998 |
1999 |
1998 |
|
MAY |
3075 *(58) |
510 |
99 |
|
JUNE |
3943 *(103) |
|
131 |
|
JULY |
6852 *(275) |
277 (6 days) |
221 |
|
AUGUST |
6196 *(252) |
4576 |
200 |
147 |
SEPTEMBER |
3400 *(68) |
2596 |
103 |
86 |
TOTAL |
23,466 |
7959 |
|
|
* Hours monitored per month
TABLE 2 VOLUNTEER WORKERS
1999 |
1998 |
|
WORK HOURS |
517 |
448 |
MONITORS & CAPTAINS HOURS |
810 |
387 |
ORGANIZATIONAL |
90 |
78 |
INTERPRETIVE PROGRAM |
230 |
|
TOTAL |
1647 |
913 |
VALUE @ $7.00/HOUR |
$11,529 |
$6391 |
DONATED MATERIAL |
$950. |
$1900 |
TOTAL |
$12,479 |
$8291 |
FRIENDS OF PETRIE ISLAND EXECUTIVE
Chairman Al Tweddle Vice Chairman Rene Cloutier
Secretary Pete Waddell Treasurer Steve McPhee
Interpretive Program Paul LeFort Planning Dave Villeneuve
Jim Pearson Dave Redmond
Claude Lalonde Publicity Rick Thompson
Monitor Coordinator Romeo Messier
PETRIE ISLAND SURVEY August 1999
Conducted by Friends of Petrie Island (a volunteer organization operating the picnic area during July and August).
Is this your first visit to the picnic area? Yes q No q
If no, how often do you visit Petrie Island/month:
Daily q 1-5 times q 6-10 times q more than 10 timesq
When do you visit: Weekends q Weekdays q Evenings q
How long have you been coming to Petrie Island?
What activities do/would you use the Island for: (Please circle a number)
1. Picnic 2. Canoe/kayak
3. Walk the dog 4. Bird watching
5. Nature viewing 6. Sun bathing
7. Fishing - by shore - by boat 8. Boating
9. Other
Your preferences for the future of the Island
Preserve natural area Yes q No q Undecided q
Build bridge to Quebec Yes q No q Undecided q
Build a marina Yes q No q Undecided q
Boat launch - ramp Yes q No q Undecided q
Develop existing sand operation area as park/ beach . Yes q No q Undecided q
What measures would you support to protect the natural areas:(circle numbers)
1. Dogs on leash 2. Special area for dogs
3 No dogs 4. No shore fishing in sensitive areas
5 No bikes in sensitive areas 6. Boat speed limits in inland waters
7 No motor boats on the pond
8 Limit human access in sensitive natural areas ie: A. only after certain hours,
B. only open for conducted tours
What other facilities would you like to see? Comments on existing facilities.
Are you interested in volunteering? Yes No
Area of interest, ie: cleanups, monitoring, fundraising, organization, programs, special skills, other
Name...... ................................................................................ Phone.......................................
APPENDIX A Questionnaire
A small survey was conducted during the summer to determine the public response to various initiatives for the island as well as public acceptance of the rules and by-laws for the area.
The results of the 44 responses are listed below:
First time visitors 21
Repeat visitors 23
ACTIVITIES PARTICIPATED IN
Picnic 32
Canoe/kayak 14
Walking dog 6
Birdwatching 18
Nature viewing 36
Sunbathing 13
Shore fishing 12
Boating 4
FILL IN ANSWERS
Swimming 2
Sunset watching 2
Climbing sand dunes 1
RULES/BYLAWS TO PRESERVE NATURAL AREA:
1. Support for : Dogs on a leash 30
Designated dog area 18
No dogs 8
No shore fishing in sensitive areas 24
No bikes in sensitive areas 24
No boats in Turtle pond 24
Boat speed limits 32
Limit human access 17
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ISLAND YES NO UNDECIDED
Preserve natural areas 38 0 0
Bridge to Quebec 1 28 1
Marina 5 21 1
Boat launch 9 15 7
Develop park/beach area 30 2 3
COMMENTS
Better washrooms to cover the whole season
APPENDIX B
# of # of Cause Picnic area total
Counts days picnic boat beach Way Total attend. attend.
May |
31 |
12 |
284 |
81 |
171 |
322 |
858 |
3075 |
|
June |
73 |
21 |
552 |
98 |
469 |
299 |
1418 |
3943 |
10,129 |
July |
134 |
31 |
1344 |
228 |
349 |
564 |
2485 |
6852 |
12,669 |
August |
139 |
31 |
1154 |
171 |
87 |
673 |
2085 |
6196 |
11,194 |
September |
115 |
30 |
730 |
87 |
50 |
295 |
1162 |
3400 |
5417 |
TOTAL |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
23,466 |
48,697 |
Various car counts (parked cars) were taken since May of this year at four locations, the picnic area parking lot, the boat launch area south of the picnic area parking lot, at the bend in the road nearest the sand operation, and both sides of the causeway. The beach area was blocked off with a steep berm on June 28 and a fence was added on July 12, this explains the decrease in cars parked at this location.
An extrapolation of these values based on the picnic area parking and attendance figures was used to estimate the total use of the Island for recreational purposes. This figure approaches 50,000 visitors.
Several counts of the boats on the river beach of the sand operation were taken on the dates listed below: Sun June 20 2:00 p.m. 80 boats 264 people
Sun Aug 1 3:00 p.m. 31 boats
A more detailed breakdown of the picnic area attendance is show below:
One week day and one week end day, the rest of the users included first time visitors, nature viewers, coffee break, readers, occasional business person or student:
Sun Aug 22 9 a.m - 9 p.m. 147 groups 420 people
Tue Aug 24 9 a.m. - 9 p.m,. 110 groups 302 people
Groups:
# PICNICKERS # PEOPLE WITH DOGS # WITH BIKES # FISHING
Aug 22 24 (20%) 18 (13%) 16 (10%) 4 (1%)
Aug 24 40 (36%) 12 (11%) 8 (7%) 4 (2%)
Other spot checks made during Jan to May showed that as many as 90 cars could be on the ice for ice fishing. The first and last area used each season is the inland boat launch area, all the fishing shacks were gone by March 20, but there was still some ice fishing. Flooding this year occurred in the week of April 5 to 10 and the use of the island started to increase as soon as the waters receded.