The following letter was submitted by Linda Tone who was kind enough to share her thoughts after attending the ToML meeting on June 16th.
I am writing to you to express my feelings about the proposed LIPPA PIT-
My parents purchased this property in the 70’s after having to leave Silver Sands Campground due to unforeseen circumstances . With heavy hearts they searched and searched for the perfect piece of land, and found it. They worked for 4 years to clear the land as we lived in Toronto and both of them were working during the week so they could only come up on weekends and holidays. After all their hard work and tireless effort their dream was a reality- Cedar Shores Campground was open in 1978/79.
My parents loved Muskoka so much they wanted to share all the beauty and solitude our great area supplied with no effort on Mother Natures part. Not very big but very private- some people don’t even know its here.
Dad and Mom were involved the Deer Feeding Association in the winter soon after moving up here and in a few years had up to 68 beautiful deer right in our backyard. Travellers on the road would see them and stop at the top of the driveway and my parents would ask them to come in and have tea and watch them up close through the big picture window in the basement, in the middle was my Mom talking to them and putting seed down as if she were talking to a group of kids- it was amazing.
Our little lake -Slocombe- was stocked for the campers to fish in . To this day we do not allow gas motors in our lake, you row ,canoe- kayak, use an electric motor , or fish from the shore. Unfortunately the Pike have come from a surrounding lake through the water system that connects all our lakes, in one way or the other, either underground or above ground. They are a very invasive species .
We have first – second – and third generation campers here and have people looking for spots all the time, but alas we are at capacity. My parents have since passed away and left this beautiful Campground in the families care to keep their dream alive. Making sure that we keep our promise not to make drastic changes to the property to harm the wildlife or surrounding bush area.
There are turtles, painted and snappers, deer, turkey vultures, and other wildlife on the roads all the time and I have stopped numerous times to help get them off the road, so periodically there are two or three cars stopped on Muskoka Rd. #3- not very good or very safe if there are going to be more large trucks on the road- at 80klms in this section I doubt that a large truck loaded or not will be able to stop that quickly.
In building the proposed Pit, I am afraid even as far away as we are from it that our little lake will be harmed , our beautiful rocks that are all over our property will be stressed, the poor animals that live in the area will be tortured by the noise, the campers – our family trying to get out of our driveway all of this will be a life threatening issue for all. What about the Postal Person that makes frequent stops at the driveways to deliver mail, people trying to get out of Old Aspdin Rd. how about the multitude of Motorcycles and Car clubs, of Bicycle groups and joggers that travel this road and the neighbours that have to walk on the road to get to their mailboxes.
I do understand that this is a short cut to Parry Sound , the road to the Dump, to beautiful Skeleton Lake and all its cottagers, to other campgrounds , to Rousseau , but putting 70% more trucks on our road seems a little drastic and unnecessary, and a detriment to the road quality which will certainly change with all the excess weight that will be added to it.
We were at the meeting and I listened to all of the statistics about the rocks fracturing, the lakes, the air quality, the noise ,the safety to wildlife and most importantly the people that live in the area. It was also stated that there are 9 pits already in Muskoka- we need another one WHY??
One comment was that the pit will fail because of that- too many already. This pit will not benefit Muskoka but destroy it. Our Green House Gas issue is severe enough , lets not add more problems to our air. How much more with the Health system have to spend to keep us healthy if this gets approved. I don’t want to see my old age suffer because someone wants to make more money. If money is the issue build something that will benefit the Muskoka area- we need more housing- a seniors home- hey even another campground will bring in money for the life of your family- trust me I know.
On closing I wish to say that I pay taxes on two properties, and my family has a vote up here, I hope that counts for something. Please see your way to not allowing this Pit to become the biggest mistake you will have to live with the rest of your life.
Mrs. Linda Tone
Utterson, Ontario