OCTOBER 1999

By Al Tweddle

ORGANIZATIONAL

The Friends of Petrie Island have:

• approved a constitution and elected a 12 person executive, in October 1998
• participated in Regional and Cumberland trail plans study and signage for the ISLANDS
• co-operated with other organizations such as the Ottawa Field Naturalist Club (OFNC) and Ottawa Duck club in development of interpretive literature
• continued to publicise the area through articles in local papers, talks and open houses on the Island, and also appeared on a CHRO TV segment

IMPROVEMENTS TO THE SITE

• The Region and Grandmaitre opened a new entrance to the sand pit in June, that reduces the length of the roadway used by trucks and keeps trucks away from picnic, parking and entrance areas
• improved parking at the causeway, this area is used largely by fishermen, canoeists and small boaters
• the Region trimmed dead and dangerous limbs from trees in the picnic area
• the friends assisted Grandmaitre in construction of the pedestrian/bike path from the causeway, which bypasses the pit entrance
• the Friends made various improvements to the picnic area and improved the parking area with assistance from Grandmaitre, from 24 to 40 parking spots
• grounds in the picnic area were improved by levelling land and removing dangerous debris from the area: the City of Cumberland provided an operator and machine for several days for this project
• cleaned up beach area and removed debris from the water
• improved trails and provided better habitat for wildlife along the pond, including erecting blinds for better nature observation, using natural materials
• made new entrance to the picnic site, with improved signage, added additional benches, (2 to 5) and picnic tables (10 to 17)
• -this work was accomplished on various work days, about 80 volunteers provided 517 hours of work. This included participation by Colonel By students, Orleans Air cadets, Diving Owls Scuba diving Club and Scout and Guide groups
• work days will continue into the fall to close down the area and ready it for the winter

OPERATION

• The City of Cumberland provided a $1000 operation grant, contracted for the grass cutting (6 cuts) and provided bi-weekly garbage pick up
• No serious operation problems were encountered during the summer and there was very little vandalism
• The portable toilet was in operation from late June to Sept with twice weekly cleaning.
• Monitors and Captains performed cleanups as required.
• The by laws generally were adhered to, a few users objected to putting their dogs on a leash
• there was excellent co-operation with City parks and Recreation staff with integration of some parks projects, such as use of excavation materials from old playgrounds, providing fill for low spots in the picnic area or trail improvement
• many people asked about the quality of the water and this was measured by the Region, at the request of City Planning staff, on two dates in late August. Although these are only preliminary data, bacterial counts were found to be within the acceptable range for a public beach

PICNIC AREA USE

• although the official period of operation was July to Sept 6, use of the area was monitored from May 1 to Sept. 30
• attendance during July and August was taken regularly with a monitor being on duty an average of 8 ½ hours/day
• May, June and Sept were monitored on busy days and estimates for other days were based on spot checks of the area
• 36 volunteer monitors and Captains provided 810 hours of time, and over 23,000 people visited the area between May and October, (Table 1)
• The peak daily periods are 11 - 3:00 and 7 - 9 p.m. with week days having good attendance during the summer but dropping off during spring and fall. The weekends remained busy from May through September. Most monitors picked a regular weekly slot for the summer with time out for holidays. It was more difficult to get monitors on the weekends.

INTERPRETIVE PROGRAM

• various tours of the island were held on Open House days and through special groups, such as, OFNC, Volksport, etc
• 2 brochures were produced and distributed at the site and, 3 topics were picked and displayed at the site each month from May to October, one bird or group of birds, one plant, shrub or tree and one mammal or amphibian (15 topics covered)
• a Web site was developed by Dave Villeneuve and has received many favourable comments

OBSERVATIONS ON USE

• a large number of people visiting the site are doing so for the first time (40%) while the use by picnickers, cyclists, canoeists and nature viewers has increased. There have been more picnics by families and other larger groups, several senior residences made it an outing destination for their residents, and some local businesses and Guides and Scouts groups have also used the area.
• - Many people asked why no public access could be made of some of the beaches where the sand extractor operates, especially when the public could see many boats pulling up on the river shore and using that beach. That sand operation area has always been marked with no trespassing signs but many people used it anyway until it was barricaded and fenced in July. FOPI recommends that perhaps a portion of the beach adjacent to the picnic area could be fenced and open to the public if the sand operation is to continue past next March.

POINTS FOR CONSIDERATION NEXT YEAR

• longer season ie: May 24 - Labour Day
• - Larger beach area, to the East to include existing beach
• - Larger picnic area to the West
• - improve facilities 18-25 tables - 10 in 1998
• More benches
• Picnic shelter
• expansion of trails with signs will be dealt with in consultant’s report
• improved washroom facilities ie: flush toilet - $300 vs. $100/month
• regular water testing of site
• formalize rules to restrict fishing and dogs on beach/picnic area
• this is standard practice at public beaches
• expansion of interpretive program to include tours and educational events
• evaluation/investigation of erosion problems caused by the wake of boats on the Ottawa River

SUMMARY

• The 1999 picnic area operation was very successful
• The majority of visitors to the site reflected a strong public desire to preserve the natural areas and develop a beach for public use. Many people continued to be opposed to the bridge.
• There is a strong desire by many for the east end to have a regional park with a natural sand beach area
• The Friends of Petrie Island have demonstrated their ability to improve and operate the picnic area at minimal cost to the taxpayers and look forward to continue operating and developing the area next year

FINANCIAL STATEMENT as of September 15, 1999

REVENUE

EXPENSES

OTHER EXPENSES

POTENTIAL EXPENDITURES FOR 2000

TABLE 1 - PETRIE ISLAND ATTENDANCE

TOTAL DAILY AVERAGE

* Hours monitored per month

TABLE 2 VOLUNTEER WORKERS

FRIENDS OF PETRIE ISLAND EXECUTIVE

Conducted by Friends of Petrie Island (a volunteer organization operating the picnic area during July and August).

How long have you been coming to Petrie Island?

What measures would you support to protect the natural areas:(circle numbers)

Area of interest, ie: cleanups, monitoring, fundraising, organization, programs, special skills, other

Name...... ................................................................................ Phone.......................................

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:

ACTIVITIES PARTICIPATED IN

FILL IN ANSWERS

RULES/BYLAWS TO PRESERVE NATURAL AREA:

COMMENTS

Better washrooms to cover the whole season

APPENDIX B

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

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:

Groups:

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.