Blind River Town Council has agreed to receive a public presentation at their next meeting, May 21, from residents concerned about Shirvon Park. The residents are concerned about nesting turtles and also about the children’s play equipment.
The agreement to receive a public presentation is in response to a letter and public input at Monday’s council meeting, from a local resident.
Speaking at the council meeting, April 15, Blind River resident, Ben Wiesner, said, “We request some time to put together a formal information package that we can present to council.”
Wiesner added that the group wants to “turn the situation into a win-win for kids as well as turtles. We believe very strongly in habitat protection for all species, and we also believe we can coexist together as we’ve done in the past.”
During the subsequent question and answer between Wiesner and the council, Couns. Betty Ann Dunbar said, “I think it would be in our best interest as council, to gather more information.” Dunbar also referred to “[being] a welcoming community and we want younger families to move here.”
The species of turtle was questioned but not identified at Monday’s meeting. Wiesner said, “It’s not a Blanding's turtle.” He said the group had information about the species and that information is planned to be part of their presentation.
According the Wiesner's comments, the present plan is to remove the playground equipment and leave a grassed area. The council did not dispute those comments.
Couns. Jim Dunbar said, “I guess where we’re at right now, Ben, unless someone tells me differently, it would require a councillor besides myself to bring forward a notice of motion to investigate this or to prolong it until the next meeting. But other than that … I don’t see us going anywhere [or] changing anything on this.”
Couns. Betty Ann Dunbar said, “Would we need to go as far as a notice of motion if we just waited for Ben to give us this report? We'll give them a timeline to have the report in front of us because we really can't do anything while [the turtles] are nesting anyway. We're no further behind or ahead.”
Council plans to hear the residents’ presentation at their next scheduled meeting of council, May 21.
Mayor Sally Hagman closed the item, commenting to Wiesner, “Thank you so much for coming tonight. I really appreciate your presentation.”
Previous story: Council wants study on Shirvon Park turtle nesting