Municipalities at odds over Pelican Lake access

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Killarney-Turtle Mountain is keeping boat launches open at Pelican Lake this summer while the RM of Prairie Lakes closes launches to the public. The two councils disagree about how to respond to the threat of zebra mussels in their local lake.

Killarney-Turtle Mountain Mayor Janice Smith said on Thursday her council disagrees with the enforcement system that has been introduced by the RM of Prairie Lakes at Pelican Lake. She said her council thinks there are better ways to protect against zebra mussels, and will not enforce the inspections or gated boat launches.

“We felt strongly here in our municipality that education was a stronger tool than some more physical things at this point,” said Smith. “We weren’t prepared in Killarney-Turtle Mountain to do anything this strict.”

The decision means that while the RM of Prairie Lakes has gated launches around the lake and employs roughly five inspectors, accesses will be open to the public at the other end of the lake, on Killarney-Turtle Mountain’s land.

The decision has its critics, said Smith.

“We get some that think we’re total idiots and can’t see the zebra mussels for the size of our nose,” said Smith. “We are concerned. We don’t want this. But we also need to be responsible for our own actions.”

Smith said her council wanted to keep a consistent policy in Killarney-Turtle Mountain, and that it was not prepared to enforce inspections across all its bodies of water due to a lack of resources. Rather than join the program put on by RM of Prairie Lakes, Smith said the municipality has installed additional signage about aquatic invasive species and created an educational pamphlet that it will distribute at its campground.

She said she believes there are gaps in programs that rely on enforcement, making it impossible to contain zebra mussels as intended. She pointed to Clear Lake, where zebra mussels were discovered after years of mandatory watercraft inspections.

“I’ve had many a sleepless night. I have laid in bed to think, what can we do to make this work for everybody? It’s very hard,” she said. “I just know that our municipality doesn’t agree with their process, and they are not agreeing with our process.”

She added it is difficult to see things differently with a neighbour, but that it’s important the two municipalities still look to work together in the future.

“When you have strained relationships between one another, then it’s not the same and I don’t want that. That’s not the kind of person I am.”

The RM of Prairie Lakes program this season gated all but one boat launch on its land at Pelican Lake. Travelling boaters are directed to the remaining launch in Ninette, where inspections take place. The fee for the first inspection is $40 and helps pay for the cost of the program to regulate incoming boats for aquatic invasive species.

Reeve Darren Seymour told the Sun on Thursday that the community has been focused on education for years, and values education. But he said council now believes it has to go a step further to prevent the introduction of zebra mussels into the lake.

“That’s where we’re at now,” he said. “We need to move forward, and so that’s what we’ve chosen to do. And it is tough.”

The long-term health of the lake is a priority in the decision-making, Seymour previously told the Sun. He said the impacts would be most severe if zebra mussels entered the lake and spread, such as by clogging an aeration system installed roughly nine years ago that improves the water quality.

He said the two municipalities are at different stages in the process and that they see things differently. It’s important to maintain a good relationship even when there are disagreements, he added.

“I fully understand Killarney has their position,” said Seymour. “I respect their position. I don’t agree with it. I don’t have to like it, but I respect them as a council to make their decision and do what they feel is in the best interest of their ratepayers.”

Seymour said council hopes Killarney-Turtle Mountain will join the program.

The disagreement between councils, however, has led to some issues that the municipalities may have to resolve legally.

A boat launch at Pleasant Valley, on Killarney-Turtle Mountain land, has been a subject of debate. Smith said the municipality hired a land surveyor this year to settle a dispute over whether the boat launch was on land owned by the RM of Prairie Lakes, and so would be gated off, or Killarney-Turtle Mountain, and kept open.

The boat launch was found to be in Killarney-Turtle Mountain — a decision that the RM of Prairie Lakes is considering as it looks forward. Seymour said on Thursday that RM of Prairie Lakes is researching if it can put a gate on the road leading to the boat launch, which would make access exclusive to people who are part of the program.

Seymour said the RM should know soon if it is able to put a gate on the road allowance. He said part of the allowance falls on RM of Prairie Lakes land, where a gate could be installed, but that the RM is looking to resolve the issue in a more conciliatory way.

Smith said Killarney-Turtle Mountain is prepared to defend public access.

The south boat launch dispute would be the second confrontation over lake access.

Smith confirmed on Thursday that Killarney-Turtle Mountain this year removed a gate that was installed on a boat launch on land that it shares with the RM of Prairie Lakes. She said the municipality communicated it did not support the program, and removed the gate after correspondence with RM of Prairie Lakes in order to keep its launch open.

Smith and Seymour said discussions between the two municipalities go back months — but it has been difficult to find a middle ground between the firmly held difference of opinions.

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com