Although Kager Lake is not located within village boundaries, Burns Lake council has been discussing ways to improve the popular recreation site.
Last month former councillor John Illes asked village staff to prepare a report exploring the possibility of installing beach sand and garbage cans at the site. However, the garbage cans idea wasn’t well received by council.
Councillor Kelly Holliday said that if the village starts collecting garbage at the recreation site, this might encourage local residents to leave their garbage at the site, as opposed to packing it up and taking it with them.
“Crows would tear it apart leaving a big a mess, and who’s going to pay for that? Is public works going to spend time picking up garbage that’s been torn apart by animals?”
Councillor Susan Schienbein said that if the municipality starts collecting garbage at Kager Lake, the public might come to expect that the same be done in other recreation sites.
“The whole pack it in and pack it out is an issue not just at Kager Lake,” she said. “Even though I am supportive of the Village of Burns Lake trying to minimize this issue [at Kager Lake], I don’t think it’s ever going to resolve the issue if we don’t reinforce that mentality that people need to pack in their garbage and pack it out.”
Councillors also pointed out that since the Kager Lake Recreation Site is maintained by the Lakes Outdoor Recreation Society (LORS), they need to be involved in future discussions.
“I think this is something that we need to take some leadership from LORS,” said Schienbein.
According to a village staff report, garbage cans at Kager Lake would have to be picked up by a village garbage truck on a daily schedule, which would take approximately one hour per site visit. This equates to approximately $200 per week in expenses, which include the cost of fuel and garbage bags.
If a recycling bin is installed, then a separate pickup truck would be used to deliver the recyclables to a nearby facility. This would be done twice per week at a cost of approximately $80 per week.
The idea of installing beach sand at the recreation site also did not gain traction during the council meeting.
According to a village staff report, as there are currently no beach areas surrounding Kager Lake, installing beach sand would require clearing native trees, which would require a permit.
“Bringing in the equipment necessary to complete this work would be challenging as access to the lakeshore is limited,” states the report.
Village staff contacted B.C. Parks in regard to the sand and garbage cans. B.C. Parks staff have offered to supply the garbage cans, as well as a recycling bin if the village can maintain them. However, as per their policies, they do not wish to see any sand installed at Kager Lake.
Council carried a motion to meet with both LORS and B.C. Parks to further discuss these issues.