Yahoo Movies Deer Lake mayor says RV park construction up to code
While construction at the Deer Lake Municipal RV park continues, the mayor insists the work is adhering to all guidelines.
"We are accountable to the provincial government, the federal government. We have to live within the rules," Dean Ball said.
On Monday, officials with the water resources division of the Department of Environment were on site, checking in on new developments.
There were some noticeable differences since the last time CBC News was at the site about two weeks ago.
A long black strip of silt shield runs along the beach in front of the park. The barrier will keep debris from the construction site out of Deer Lake and the nearby Humber River.
There are also yellow 'do not enter' signs that line the shield on the beach.
The popular campground and park is getting a makeover, but Jean Young, and her daughter, Sara, previously told CBC they felt the developer, Stirling Group, had moved past the park's original footprint and construction was affecting the salmon in the river and other species in nearby ponds.
The Stirling Group denied that, saying there is "a lot of misinformation" about the project, including that they were working near a salmon river. The developer said it plans to address ongoing flooding issues, update the facilities and add up to 100 RV campsites.
"It's basically a redevelopment of an existing footprint of 40 lots that we intend to expand to a couple hundred lots and make it a destination resort for Deer Lake and the community," said Stirling Group owner Jon Stirling at the time.
Ball said this week all the proper permits are in place and says the developer is using quality fill that poses no risk to the environment.
"We've been monitoring this job site since day one. This has been on the go for three years," he said.
Weeks ago, officials shut down the park to inspect the work and deemed an environmental assessment wasn't necessary, as long as its stays 200 meters from the waterways.
"We have approval to stay within our initial campground that's been here for 50 plus years. Anything outside of that will be separate permitting. The province will be getting involved again at that point," said Ball.
For now, construction of the new campsites continues with the park slated to open sometime in June.
