It's in progress. Excellent.
Alright, great. Well, good evening.
Thank you for joining us this evening.
My name is Tina Cappetta and the
Superintendent of the Chesapeake and
Ohio Canal National Historical Park.
I would like to kick it off with
a round of introductions if I
can start with the National Park
Service staff from the C&amp;O Canal.
If. I can.
So I can just take a look at
maybe how you're listed in teams
and just introduce yourselves.
Jerry. Yes, hi everybody.
Jerry diang. I am the chief of
Resources management for the park.
Dustin.
Yes, good afternoon. Justin, Ebersol
and the cultural resource specialist
in 106 coordinator seeing the canal.
Christiana. Hi everyone,
I'm Christina Hansen.
I'm the chief of interpretation
education and volunteers
with the phenomenal.
Andrew. Hello, I'm Angela lansman.
I'm the natural resources
manager for the park.
In. Joshua. Hi, I'm Joshua Nolan.
I am the interpretive supervisor for
Western Maryland for the Sienna Canal.
Kevin.
Hello, I'm Kevin stanfield.
I do geographic information systems
and lands for the CNO Canal.
And Ed.
Evening it went off. Chief of
Visitor and resource protection.
I think I got everyone on the park staff.
Speak up now. If I missed you.
We also have staff from our
regional office with us from
the national capital area.
And Christine and Tammy,
if you'll please introduce yourselves.
Sure. Hi, I'm Tammy siddham.
I'm the deputy associate area
director for lands and planning
out of our regional office.
Hi everybody.
I'm Christine Brewins,
planning portfolio manager for
the National Capital Region.
And then we have a contractor who's
spearheading this effort with us. Claire,
would you like to introduce your team?
Yes, my name is Claire Sale and
the project manager for this
development concept plan. Lauren.
Hi everyone. I'm Lauren suttle.
I'm a planner working with Claire.
Uh, Alan? Hi, my name's Alan Harwood.
I'm a planner with Adcom and
working with Claire and Lauren and
happy to be here. And then read.
I already found on the landscape
architect and planner with Acom.
Great. OK. I think we've.
Made it through our introductions.
There will.
We can pull the presentation back up.
A few housekeeping items.
We'll just ask if you could stay muted
please and just mute and unmute as needed.
There's uh, just to help you if
you're not so familiar with teams,
there's also a raise your hand function,
so if you have a question you can raise
your hand or you can use the chat box,
you can see at the from.
I think for most of us it's at the
top right along the bar there you
can also open up the chat box and you
can type in a question or a comment.
So kind of diving into the agenda today,
we really wanted to, again,
I'd like to welcome you to the meeting.
We went through our introductions
and I'd like to talk to you a little
bit about the purpose for this
evening's meeting and really it's
to kick off a dialogue with you.
We'll run through the meeting purpose,
existing conditions,
the review of some initial concepts.
We'll have some time for question
and answer and then we'll go through
the process of how to submit.
Comments.
So I'm always eager to kind of dive right in.
So why is the National Park
Service developing this concept
plan for whites ferry?
You know, really, what's this all about?
So tonight we'll be talking
about 2 tracks of National Park
Service lands at Whites Ferry.
The National Park Service acquired
track 17101 in 1974 from the
Whites Ferry Sportsman's Club,
which has recently vacated the property.
And tracks 17102,
which lies upstream of Whites Ferry Rd.
The side with the parking lot.
So the National Park Service has
an opportunity to look at these
two tracts of lands holistically
and reinvisioned public use of
the site for the future.
And while some work still has
to happen on track 17101 to demo
some structures and return the
site to a more natural state,
the purpose of this planning
effort is to evaluate the existing
conditions and develop potential
concepts for future public use
and enjoyment of the projects.
Right.
The National Park Service will use the plan,
which will be made available to the public,
to implement improvements to the area,
and this plan is really conceptual.
It's not a decision document.
We're here to get your thoughts and this will
be a process that will continue to develop.
So Claire,
I'll turn this over to you if
you want to lead it from here.
Sure.
So in terms of today's purpose
for the meeting, what we.
What we'd like to do is to
get your get your input.
So what is your vision for the whites
ferry area of the park as part of this,
we are we've developed some initial concepts.
We would appreciate your feedback on those.
If there are things that you like,
things that you don't like,
we want to have some,
get some comments back on
that as part of the
comment process. And if and we
also like as part of this effort.
To identify any issues,
concerns or other ideas that you may have.
So for tonight it's to provide
some questions and answers and
then we like your comments on the.
On some ideas.
And then in terms of the timeline kind
of in the process of what we're doing.
So tonight we're having an initial
initial meeting for some to review some
initial concepts and answer any questions.
And then as part of that,
there'll be a 30 day comment period
where we would welcome your ideas
and concepts or excuse me comments
and after we that 30 day period,
we'll look to the comments that we've
received and figure out if there are,
if we need to adjust the.
Concepts and refine them or come up
with some other ideas and then we
will bring those back to you after
we've had a chance to make those
changes and then those will be
presented at a second public meeting.
After which they'll be again
another comment period.
We'll take those comments to refine
the final concepts and then we
will put that together in a plan.
So these have these will be more
visual today and the next meeting,
but the final plan will have more,
a little more meat and narrative
text to go along with it and then
that will be released towards the.
Towards the end of winter,
resting winter 2023 and as Tina mentioned,
the it's a concept plan is not
a decision document.
There will be other requirements for
environmental compliance with the
national Environmental Policy Act
and the National Preservation Act.
Those are future compliance issues
that will be taken in account at the
time when the decision is being made
on the direction of the implementation of.
A plane.
So just in terms of existing
conditions and to help Orient people,
this is part of the Chesapeake and
Ohio Canal National Historical Park and
there are two tracks as was mentioned.
The first track is tracked 10,
seventeen, 101 and that's the
southern portion of the site.
And then there is tracked 17102 which
is the northern portion of the site.
And this northern tract is 54 acres.
But we're actually talking about
a smaller area, so.
On most of this is wooded and
would continue to be wooded.
Uh,
we're not planning to develop
any concepts related to that.
Uh, just the southern portion
of the northern tracks.
So southern portion of tract
17102 and and this.
Northern area includes open
space here as well as an existing
pavilion and a parking area.
As well as a lot of wooded areas,
there's also some picnic casual picnic
areas along the edge of the parking lot.
To the southern portion of the tract,
there is river access.
There's some stairs leading
towards the river.
There's also open space as
well as shaded open space.
There are sort of intermittent
trees along the southern portion.
There's also a access driveway that leads
to the private property along the river
to the South and the West of track 17101.
So just to help provide some images
to go along with the description.
So here's an image of the pavilion and
the open space that sort of surrounds it.
Here's another image of the pavilion.
Want and from the new the pavilion
towards the Potomac River that runs along
the western edge of the project site.
And then we have an image towards
picnic area and parking lots.
That's in the northern tract.
So in the southern tract,
as I mentioned before,
there's a shaded open space that
runs along the eastern portion
of the southern tract.
And I realized there's a lot of directions.
We also share the access Rd.
Here's a photo of the access
point to the Potomac River.
And then the open space.
There's sort of a terrace that
runs along the Potomac River.
As well.
And one of the things that we
recognize that there are issues
with is that this is with there
are floodplains within the site,
the entire site is part of a floodplain.
There's also some wetlands to and
the northern portion of the site.
But as you can see on the floodplain,
these images here that it's not
just that there are floodplains,
but they have some significant
flooding that occurs.
So as part of this effort,
we looked at what the the foundation
document so the foundation document for
the C&amp;O Canal, National Stork Park,
identifies the park purpose as
well as what makes it significant.
So the parks purpose is to preserve and
interpret the 19th century transportation
canal from Washington DC to Cumberland,
MD and it's associated Scenic,
natural and cultural resources and to
provide opportunities for education
and appropriate outdoor recreation.
So building on that,
the park significance is that it has
several elements of significance,
but that includes the preservation and
interpretation of the 19th century Canal,
canal transportation and the civil
engineering technology associated with it.
There are more than 1300 historic
structures along the C&amp;O Canal.
There.
Is it evidence of 13,000 or 13,000
years of human habitation.
Along the Potomac.
That is evidenced in archaeology.
In the park.
And the towpath itself is one of
the most heavily used recreation
trails in the nation and serves
as the backbone for a national
and regional trail system.
There's also the fact that the area
offers diverse recreation opportunities.
Including hiking.
Biking and.
River access there is a.
Biologically diverse area
along the Potomac Gorge.
The again, there are multiple ecological
areas of variety of ecosystems from
a natural Boris of buffer or forest,
Woodlands, prairies and barons,
and a wildlife corridor along
the along the Potomac.
And then finally,
it engages a diverse cross section of
urban and rural communities along the.
On the park.
One of the things I did not mention in
terms of recreation includes camping,
so there are multiple campsites within
the C&amp;O Canal National Historic Park and.
Here we have white spirits,
kind of in the red,
with the arrow coming down,
and we looked at what the nearby
hiker biker campsites are,
so hiker biker campsites are first come,
first serve, and do not need reservations.
The one shown on this map is Calico Rocks,
which is up here and is approximately 12.
Whoops, sorry, got carried away.
There is about 12 miles north of the site.
There's also Indian flats.
Uh marble quarry Turtle Run is the
probably the closest to whites ferry,
and that's approximately one mile away.
And further South there is also chisel,
branch and horse pin branch.
So little Branch enforcement branch.
We also looked at what the
closest driving campground is.
So what's the place that you
could would have reservations
and that is 69 at mile marker,
69.6 and Antietam Creek which is
about 34 miles away from whites
ferry and then finally is the
closest group campground and that
is Marsden Tract which is 24 miles
South of the site and both the
Antietam Creek and Marston track.
Like campgrounds are not on this map,
they're too far away.
This part of this, it's kind of
an overall existing condition.
So then we looked at what are what are
some concepts for the site we in order
to kind of help us understand the site,
we broke it up in the north portions
and southern portions and we have
there's some things that are kind
of run across all of the concepts.
So all of them have changes
to the existing pavilion.
All of them include a forest buffer.
There are options for existing.
Open area east of the pavilion and we'll see.
Agricultural uses,
Meadow and recreation space and
one of the things to kind of keep
in mind as we talk about these
is that these are mix and match.
There are very few elements
that are mutually exclusive.
There are a couple,
but for the most part they
can be mixed and matched.
And I think that one of things
we're trying to get out of this
is to just come up with a breadth
of ideas and identify what.
What?
What people respond to what people like,
what people don't.
If they have concerns about
something or other ideas that
can be incorporated into these.
So here we have our the first
concept is concept,
a recreational so along the northern
portion of the site we have the existing
pavilion would undergo upgrades and
that would include electrical hookups.
We would continue to provide a
shaded group gathering area,
so this area has some some
trees and that would continue.
So people could spend some time there
and but have some shade there also be.
A group gathering area
for informal recreation.
This would be sunny,
sort of open space, uh,
similar to what's there now with turf.
This adds restrooms in an informal
picnic area to the South,
so along the parking near the
parking lot there would be some
picnic tables and then a restroom.
There would be a reforestation area
to the northern end of the site,
so kind of reestablishing some some
forested cover at the northern portion
of the current existing open space.
And we also would suggest the
riparian buffer along UM,
the existing stream at the
site and the Potomac River.
So those are kind of the
facilities improvements.
There's also a couple of
operational implications.
So one of these is that a revenue could
be generated from rental of the pavilion.
So the pavilion would be rented, whereas
the picnic tables would be more casual.
First come first serve basis.
The area with the turf,
the open recreation,
sunny space would be would require mowing.
And then there's the potential for a
cooperative agreement in terms of.
Addressing the restrooms and maintenance.
Also,
I should add here that there
would be an area kind of along
the southern portion of the tract
that would be reforested.
So the first one was more
recreation focused and the second
one is more ecological focused.
So it retains a lot of the similar
elements such as the riparian buffer,
the reforestation and area along
the southern portion of the site,
the upgrades to the OR the.
Changes to the existing pavilion and
maintenance of the shaded recreation area,
picnic tables, restrooms,
the two biggest changes in this one
would be that instead of having an open,
sunny recreation space where
people could gather,
it would be a Meadow instead and the
street and the forested area would
again be to the to the north of that.
So the operational implications
of this is that the while the turf
would require more frequent mowing,
the Meadow would require biannual mowing.
So twice a year. Or excuse me.
The other one would also would have a
potential for cooperative agreement
for restrooms and maintenance,
so that's another one where they would be.
You'd still have again
the restroom facilities.
And then the last one for this sort of
northern portion of the site is agriculture.
So we would remove a lot of the sort
of recreation desert use focused
facilities including the pavilion.
We would not add restrooms,
would not have sort of casual picnic areas,
but would instead convert the
existing turf to agricultural use.
There would also be an
improved forest buffer.
Along the southern area.
The operational impacts for
this is that there could be uh.
Potential for an agricultural leasing
program and that it would minimize
the maintenance responsibility
for the National Park Service.
And you can kind of see here when we
have these three back to back to back
and see what the differences are,
a little bit where we have very similar.
In the shaded areas with the
recreational ecological uses,
but with the pavilions,
casual picnic areas and restroom facilities,
as well as the reforestation
areas in the north.
Excuse me, the forest buffer that
would be improved to the north.
Excuse me. Reinforced it.
I was right the first time and then the
uh force buffer that would be improved
to the southern portion of the area.
But the biggest changes here would be the
use would be on the recreational front
would be sort of a more gathering area,
play space,
turf under recreational use,
whereas under the ecological
use there would be a Meadow.
And finally under the agricultural
use there would be much more.
There would be very little in the way of.
Hmm.
Visitor services or recreation uses there.
That's kind of the northern
portion of the site.
So moving to uh, track 17101 in
the southern portion of the site.
We reviewed a variety of concepts,
so we have three more to present and
all of these sort of focus on camping.
So the camping sites there are camping
sites across the board and they have
options for tent camping and they can be.
One large, basically one large group come in
or there could be multiple smaller groups.
There are parking,
but with various configurations and
sizes there would be vault toilets,
well access.
So in other words,
water for each of the alternatives that they.
Concepts, but they they vary a little bit.
Uh, there are options for open or
shaded space for group gathering.
There would be a non motorized
boat launch or fishing pier.
So essentially river access at all points.
A trail connection to the CNO
Canal towpath that would be in a.
Variety of locations and again,
these are all mix and match
opportunities with very little that
are preclude one option or another.
So the first option we have for concept A to
the South is sort of a clustered approach,
so there would be clusters of of
development or an excuse me of campsites.
So there would be one large parking
lot towards the northern portion.
And then as we move South,
the there would be 4 different camping areas
or could accommodate for for group areas.
And the first one here along the
North would be accessible each one.
The fees would have so these would share
a restroom areas and then the campground
C&amp;D along the southern portion of the site
would also share a restroom facilities there.
There would be a riparian buffer that
would be improved along the Potomac River.
We would have a.
A group gathering area.
This is sort of a open space turf,
and that's sort of the kind of flat
terrace that we have seen in the previous
pictures that would be maintained.
The there would be non motorized
access to fishing and boat launch,
so this would be things like.
Kayaks, paddle boards, etcetera.
There are multiple parking areas.
So like I said,
there would be a primary parking
area where people could park and
then walk down and then there
would be smaller parking areas for
these other locations each of the.
Camping areas which contain a fire ring,
uh areas for tents and these numbers here.
So for instance,
the northern most location uh
Camp State site 8 here would
accommodate approximately 25 tenths,
whereas BC&amp;D would accommodate
2015 and 15 tenths respectively.
There would also be picnic tables
for each group campground.
As I mentioned, there would be vault
toilets that would be located away
from the river and then the existing
well would be reused to provide water.
For the second concept,
we have our concept B the concentrated.
Area area for the camp groups.
These are a little closer together.
They're all on the same side of the roadway
previously the other one had had a camp.
Campgrounds on the.
Western side of the road.
So here uh similar in terms of how they
would be accommodated there would be?
Umm. Multiple campgrounds.
Each one of these would be accessible,
so for instance,
and there would be parking and restroom
facilities for each campground.
So for campground A,
there would be a parking lot up in the
northern area as well as a restroom
and a well for campgrounds B&amp;C.
There would be a restroom for each,
a shared parking lot,
and a well that would be
shared existing well.
And then for campgrounds campground D.
There would be again a parking lot and
a restroom facility as well as a well.
This one also differs in that it has a AU M.
River access Point, which could be
would be a drive up so that you wouldn't
have to necessarily walk so far with
your if one wanted to have their kayak
or non motorized watercraft instead,
it would be a lot closer to drive to the
area of kind of come in and then loop out.
It would be the intent.
And again this has a kind of open
space for the that would be.
One that that terrace area and then
finally each one of these would have
similar elements in terms of their.
What's at the campground?
Picnic tables, firings, areas for tents.
One thing that I did not mention
on the previous slide,
which was the access to the trail
connection for the Sino Canal tool Path.
So one of the things we looked at was OK,
how can we do?
We want to provide more direct access to
the towpath from this this campground area.
So and this particular one we have that the.
Access point kind of coming towards
the between campgrounds, B&amp;C.
And then finally,
we have the dispersed.
Option for campgrounds
in the South. Excuse me.
So this has uh fewer campsites overall
and accommodates fewer, fewer tent sites.
So in this scenario there is a a
water access point along the northern
portion of the site in a small parking
lot and here would be one would need
to walk there or otherwise carry
their watercraft to the to the edge.
Instead of having an open area
along the terrace grass,
this would be have a would be
reforested along the western edge
of the site West of the Access Rd.
The forested areas kind of surrounding
that would be sort of buffers between
each of the campgrounds would be,
uh, larger and more expansive.
There would be one well,
which would be the existing well
and the parking areas would be
smaller throughout this this site.
Excuse me. Each facility,
each area would have its own bathroom,
so there would be a bathroom
for a bathroom for B,
bathroom for C.
And. And then here the, UM,
the trail connection to the towpath would
be sort of at the southern edge of the site.
Rather than sort of more towards the
middle in each of these scenarios,
there would be a roadway maintained to
provide access to the private parcel
to the South and West of. The park.
So here we can kind of compare and contrast
and one of the things I did not mention,
uh previously was the
location for the CNO Trail,
Acino Canal towpath trail access point,
which would be between C&amp;D under the.
Campgrounds C&amp;D under the clustered option.
So as you can kind of see
here the clusters are.
Just to provide some comparison would be,
uh similar along this area as well
as would have a kind of roadway
would be a little different between
the the southern edge whereas under
concentrated there are a little
more closely put together and then
under disperse there is a greater
space and fewer overall tent camping
areas and here you can also see
the different locations for the.
Water access and then also the different
ways in which the kind of open space,
whether it's sunny, uh,
Terrace area or whether that would
be reforested and kind of how
those are configured?
And when you kind of look at these together,
we paired them together for just
basically ease of understanding.
So at the concept,
A is recreational and clustered.
So here we have again the sort of
recreational area of the north
which includes the kind of open.
Open space to the north and open
space to the South, along with the.
Facilities the pavilion picnic
tables and then to the in the
northern portion of the area,
as well as the multiple. Clusters of.
Campgrounds to the self and then we
have the ecological and concentrated.
So again we kind of the area that
has with the Meadow we paired with
the accessible and concentrated where
there are the campgrounds are a little
closer together and share facilities
more under option B and then under
option C we have the agricultural
which basically has very little of.
Doesn't use facilities to the
north and then to the South.
We have fewer campgrounds and instead
of sort of an open recreation space
has a reforce stated a reforested area.
Again, these are not necessarily
meant to be mutually exclusive or to
there or mix and match opportunities.
So if people like Option B South,
but like option A north,
then that's something that's not that is
would definitely be under consideration.
We're kind of looking for the specific
elements as well as these sort of
bigger picture comments for what
what people like and what they don't.
So that is a general overview of
the direction for the concept plan.
Just to provide a little little
halves a question and answer.
So for how did mute and unmute
yourself with the the microphones?
Raise your hands and we can call on you or
you can type a question into the chat box.
We will be acting as MC for this and
we will hopefully have your questions.
Asked and answered so and again
for the purposes of this, uh,
tonight I think we're looking for
Premier League questions and answers.
And then if you have comments on
the concept plans being provided,
we'll provide a instructions on
how to make those comments so that
they go as part of the record
that we're formally considered.
OK, I've talked for a long time, so.
I'm opening it up for questions,
so if anybody has any anything you'd
like to ask and I realize I kind
of go through that pretty quickly,
but hopefully it was will help you.
We can help you navigate
if you have any questions.
Or uh also, I guess I should ask the park.
Excuse me. Uh park. Do you have
anything that you would like to add
or subtract from the presentation?
No, no, not at this point.
I think Sharon is showing us,
uh, some high water there that
way it's very. Yeah, well.
And Claire, it looks like there
is a question in the chat. OK.
Yes, so question. So the toilets for
the campsites and the South tract would
be right by the CNO Canal towpath.
And the answer to that currently is yes,
that's how they were shown.
The attempt was to, uh,
get it out of the. Higher elevation,
to the extent practicable.
That was the logic behind that answer.
Or. There's logic behind the
placement of those facilities.
Also, I'd like to note that
the presentation is available
will be available later on,
and the link to how to comment
is located in the chat too.
So if people want to provide comments,
they can go through.
There's a link there.
OK.
John Boltz has his hand up.
And I advance if I pronounce
mispronounce anybody's name.
So please bear with me.
So thank you for the presentation.
It looks very exciting, at least to me.
And I'm a Poolesville resident
and I have a few questions or
and observations. So the on the.
Upper track we have a pavilion.
There's a masonry restroom there.
Is that owned by the park or
is that owned by Whites Ferry?
It's owned by whites fairy.
Thank you. And then UM.
I was walking along the towpath
on Sunday and I noticed the
floodwaters had come beat.
Oh no, along the towpath.
So just a random thought was as part
of the your plans for the future.
You may want to include something
about flood cleanup to ensure the
campsites are maintained after flooding.
And then another. Comment I made you
were commenting on the entrance Rd.
You know, calling it. What an access Rd.
On the lower end of the track,
101 and my understanding is that's the
old River Rd that used to go through the
passage culvert that goes underneath
the canal and that was culvert #49.
That allow people access to and from
Conrad's ferry and then whites ferry.
Before the Iron Bridge was built.
And then my last questions.
Or UM. Will the park continue to?
Maintain the granary ruins because often
it seems to be it's overgrown and also the
the bridge apartments at whites ferry.
If the grass gets high and I hate
to see trees and start growing out
of that out of the granary ruins,
now the granary ruins at the blackjack,
with the always look beautiful,
either well maintained.
And that's all I have.
Thank you very much for your comments, John.
Yeah, it's of course our goal to try to
maintain things to the best of our ability.
So we appreciate your comments.
OK. One of the questions that I
see in the chat says how does the
development of whites ferry area fit
into the park strategic priorities?
It was not in four priorities.
In the Park Strategic Plan 2019 to 2023.
I think that's a question for the park.
Yes. It is. That's a good question, rod.
You know, I think the strategic plan.
You know it. It was.
It's a very solid strategic plan.
But you know we have to have a little
bit of flexibility to be able to look
for opportunities where they are.
The strategic plan really gave us
the framework for 2019 to 2023.
So this is certainly looking
forward beyond 2023.
You know, we will need to,
as I had mentioned before,
return track 17101 to a more natural state.
And of course,
you know as we'll complete the
development concept plan and then
we will be seeking funds to be able
to implement the concept plan.
So as you know everything is a is a
process for us and to take some time so.
We'll be looking to provide this
enhanced visitor experience,
but it certainly will take us
much beyond 2023 before we could
actualize any vision that we
can put together in this plan.
OK, I think the next
question is from link hoeing.
Good evening. How are you? Uh.
I was a Commissioner in Poolesville
for quite a long time and also a
planning Commissioner for a long time,
so I spent a lot of time in master plans
and so I kind of tend to think outside the
box and kind of a bigger vision picture.
So this is probably a little too much,
but I will submit this in
my comments as well.
Whites fairy is a living history example of
the fairies that once applied the photomic.
There were almost 100 at one time and they
were a vital part of the CNO Canals commerce.
And how it operated.
And I know one of the charges of the.
Uh Park Service in this and the C&amp;O canals
to me is to also provide interpretive
and historical aspects of the theory
and of the C&amp;O Canal and what it meant,
not just the outdoor and recreation aspects.
So I really think a museum focused and
devoted to fairies and the history
of fairies and their importance to
the CNO canal given the especially
given the importance of the only
fairy that's left where you locate
this park would be a really important
aspect of making this master plan.
Not only vital,
but it helpful for our students
and for all the people in this area
who don't really know much about
the history of of fairies.
John mentioned, for example,
the granary that's at Whites ferry.
Well,
those granaries were put in
many parts of the ferry.
Many parts of the casino canal to
actually take grain from across the
river or from the Montgomery side.
Montgomery County side and store
them until they could be taken
down to Washington or Cumberland
or whatever to be processed.
So.
I really think I know that's a lot and
it's outside the box and it's a lot of money,
probably ultimately.
But I think it's a great idea that could
really enhance that area of the CNO canal.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. I appreciate your uh,
I appreciate your comment and uh,
we'll certainly be happy to have uh that
contribution uh to our our planning effort.
You know, uh, Christiana Hansen
and I have have discussed.
She's told me that she has
spoken with you before,
our chief of interpretation.
And certainly we think that this
is an important thing to discuss
in our interpretation and to try
to bring to our students in their
curriculum based education program.
So thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
Uh. John Waltz, you have your hand up again?
Yeah, that's fine.
I don't need to be disparaging there.
No, no. The thought occurred to me
as I was listening or watching this.
Those cabins are still standing.
How soon will they be able
to be demolished and removed?
Uh. John, we've requested funds for
demolition, but it does take some time
for us to be able to get those funds.
So I don't have a specific answer for you.
We are in the process of
trying to make sure that we.
Secure those cabins so that we can,
you know, keep.
You know wildlife out of them.
Try to keep people out of them
who aren't supposed to be in them,
but we we have applied for funds to
be able to, to demo those cabins,
and we're going to do it as
soon as we possibly can.
Thank you.
Nobody else has their hand up currently,
and I don't see any comments in the chat.
Does anybody else have any questions?
We really appreciate you
participating in this process.
We'll look forward to any
comments that you might have,
particularly as this progresses.
OK. Uhm, well, in that case then
just to have a final final update
here on how you can submit comments.
So we would. Online is here's a link
if you could submit those by June 11th
and this link is also in the chat.
Written comments can be mailed to
the park and the address is there
and also this presentation will be
available is available at the chat
and a recording of the meeting will
be available and the at this link
again in the chat mail comments
must be postmarked by June 11th.
So in order to receive consideration.
Are there any other questions or?
OK then, uh, I guess, Tina, I will
leave it to you too, if you want to.
Do you want to close things out,
or if there's anybody else
who has any questions,
but I don't see any right now?
OK. And I I realized that we.
We do have a late Comer so I just want
to make sure that everyone knows that
if they see how they can access this
presentation and that they how they
can access the draft concept plans.
So.
Feel free to email me if.
You have any questions about
how to access that and we will.
Make sure that you get the
information that you need, OK.
Well, thanks so much everyone for
joining us this evening and uh.
Let's be glad that the river's
going down and. Everyone.
Seemed to make it safely through
this last high water event.
All right. Thank you very much.
Have a good evening. Take care.
Great. Thank you. Bye.
Bye. Bye bye bye.