(Ridgetown Independent News File Photo)
By Michael Bennett
Local Journalism Initiative
The Ridgetown Independent
The Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority is very interested in taking over operations at Clearville Park.
The Municipality of Chatham-Kent announced its intent to divest Clearwater Park, including the trailer park, campground and community park, as a cost-saving measure during the 2025 Budget Update last November.
However, a successful motion by East Kent Coun. John Wright in early February deferred the decision to attempt to sell the park while the municipality consults park users and residents in the immediate area and considers divestment and partnership options.
South Kent Coun. Trevor Thompson added a friendly amendment requiring the administration to consult with the LTVCA regarding its potential interest in ownership and operation.
Mark Peacock, the LTVCA’s chief administrative officer, said the conservation authority would be interested in running the park if the municipality divested it.
However, purchasing the park is not an option since the LTVCA is funded through the municipality and would be paying municipal money to the municipality.
“We would be interested because we do run other campgrounds and other nature areas,” Peacock said, as the LTVCA operates the C.M. Wilson Conservation Area in Harwich Township and Big Bend Conservation Area near Wardsville.
“The intent would be to turn it into a conservation area and run it as a conservation area … that is if the municipality is even interested in us running it. If they are, we’d be willing to work with the municipality,” Peacock said.
A big issue is that park users and local residents would like to see Clearville remain in public ownership, as there is concern that a sale to a private owner would limit or eliminate public access, he added.
“It has a very long history being a public park, so we may be an option,” said Peacock, as the park is believed to be the oldest in Chatham-Kent, dating back to 1816. “There may be other public options too, but we may be an option, and we’re quite willing to work with the municipality.”
Peacock confirmed the LTVCA was in negotiations with the municipality in 2019 to take over the park.
“We were working with Don (Chatham-Kent CAO Shropshire) and Jeff (Bray of Parks & Rec) before COVID; when COVID hit, everything got frozen,” Peacock said. “And we met with the campers, too.”
He said the process going forward is to wait until the municipality completes its public consultation before developing a business plan to take back to the LTVCA board for consideration.
The consultation period, however, likely won’t occur until the spring as the trailer park does not open until May 1, and many of the seasonal campers are currently not in the local area.
Peacock said with the consultation period, the time to finalize a business plan and complete negotiations with the municipality, a decision likely won’t come until the fall.
“One of the challenges is that we have to make sure it’s revenue neutral; it can’t be a tax burden,” he said.
The 80-plus acre property consists of a trailer park, community park and woodlot. The trailer park has 125 seasonal sites and 32 transient sites, as well as a store, washroom facilities, main office, storage building, and beach access. The community park features a boat launch, public parking, playground, picnic shelter and beachfront access. There is also a woodlot on the property.
The municipality announced it was divesting Clearville Park, planning to sell the facility as one of the cost-saving measures during budget deliberations in November.
The report listed estimates of $252,825 in revenue and expenses for 2025 at the municipally owned trailer park, which would need $4,200,000 in capital improvements over the next 10 years. The main expense was $3 million for replacements of both water and sanitary main lines.
