A place to play, but no place to park: public meeting gets testy in Happy Valley-Goose Bay

A debate over parking becamefiery Thursday night at a public meeting about aHappy Valley-Goose Baysports centre.

Dozens gathered at the E.J.Broomfield Memorial Arena to meet with town council to voice concerns aboutthe lack of an adequate parking spaceatthe Mealy Mountain Collegiate Sports Complex.

"It's very frustratingI'll try to remain calm," saidBarry Keough, whospoke on behalf of the men's slow-pitch softball league.

"We've been dealing withthis for a whilebutting heads, not getting closer to a solution but getting further from a solution it seems," he said.

"Tthe current situation we got here right now is there's no parking at that facility zero."

Residents connected the lack of parking tosafety concerns, since emergency vehicles cannot access the field.

As well, they said the grounds areinaccessible to those with disabilities or injuries, the elderly,and parents with young children.

The town has recently locked a gate to the facility to keep out ATVsand motorbikes. This move has also locked out players and spectators alike from thespace they had been using as a parking lot.

Keoughargued that the town has forbidden them from parking both at a nearby playground and on a nearby road, and that the the school board has forbidden them from parking at Mealy Mountain Collegiate, located about half a kilometer from the ballfield.

To park or not to park

Confusion over whether parking at Mealy Mountain Collegiate was permittedled to some heated arguingbetween members of council and members of the softball league.

Keough told the assembly that the school boardtold him "in no uncertain terms" that nobody was permitted to park at Mealy Mountain Collegiate because of liability issues.

Keough said that he was shown an emailthat was sent totownofficials asking who had given them permission to tell people they could park at the school.

Town council argued,however, that parking at the school was permitted.

"You do have parkingMealy Mountain Collegiate!" said Coun.Jackie Compton Hobbs, whose commentwas met by jeering and booing from the crowd.

"Would you park that far from a council meeting?" one man could be heard shouting.

"You said right now there is zeroparking, and that's beencontradicted, cause there is an optionand please don't boo and groan and moan," Deputy Mayor Cora Hamel Pardy said later in the meeting.

No solution reached

The town presented a proposal to clear an undisclosed amount of land for a new parking lot.

Coun.Tony Chubbssaidthe proposed parking lot was toolarge, and that it was detrimentalto the long-term plan for the complex.

"You'll have two ballfields, a soccer field, the skateboard park, the little bike rodeo that's there, and that's it. We're done," he said.

"Alarge parking lot for 50 vehicles is going to burn up the rest of that complex."

No solutionwas reached at the consultation, although Coun.Reg Bowers'ssuggestion to simply give the softball team a key to unlock the gates was meet with cheers and applause.