Huntsville town council has now approved a final design for River Mill Park.

At their regular meeting Monday night, council approved the minutes of a special parks and recreation committee meeting, which recommended that final concept B be selected for the park.

The design was one of two concepts prepared by the town’s landscape architect, MMM Group, in April, and includes a fenced-in playground on the west side of the main parking area along West Street, a garden feature and gathering area at the entrance of the main park and two open lawn areas lined with deciduous and coniferous trees for shade.

Some of the changes made to the park design over the last 15 months include the extension of Caroline Street into the park and the closure of King Street into the park.

A hammerhead-style turnaround has been created at the bottom of King Street and a one-way road will be available to residents who live in the area to come down the hill into the parking lot during the winter months.

The public washrooms are currently being constructed and are attached to the Huntsville/Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce building.

The town docks are also being inspected and repaired as part of the park construction, and work on that is expected to wrap up in the next couple of weeks, community services director Brian Crozier told council on Monday.

Huntsville mayor Claude Doughty explained at council that a few parallel spots have been lost from the original park design in order to improve motorists’ visibility of pedestrians, but overall most of the parking remains.

“Everything that we’ve changed I think is a major step forward, and so many of the initiatives have come from the public,” Doughty told the Forester Tuesday morning.

“I still think a lot of credit goes to the council that created it. Have we done some improvements along the way? Absolutely, but . . . at the end of the day the cumulative effect is really positive.”

At the parks and recreation special meeting, committee member Steve Alcock thanked council and staff for their efforts.

He said no design would please everyone and “there’s no such thing as a perfect park,” but that this design would give the town “a lovely green space” that would be enjoyed by many.

Fowler Construction is currently on site completing work on the roads, parking lots and storm sewers, town director of public works Peter Brown told council on Monday.

He said he expects asphalt to be laid by June 1, adding that he is working on an individual basis with the property owners along the park to clean up their properties as park construction continues.

In his report to the parks and rec committee, Crozier stated that following council’s approval of the park design, MMM Group would create tender documents and construction drawings.

The tender process will take place in late May and early June, with the project being awarded in mid-June, Crozier’s report stated.

Construction could begin as early as late June, with the planting of the trees and perennials happening early this fall.

Currently the town is still in the process of expropriating one property needed for the park, located behind 72 Main St. E. and belonging to Jan Nyquist.

Doughty told the Forester that he has spoken to the town’s solicitor and they are still in the process of trying to secure a date for a hearing of necessity to determine if the property is in fact necessary to the town’s needs.

“I think we’ve been at that for eight or nine months now without success for getting a date,” Doughty said. “Our lawyer has offered many dates of availability to the lawyer for the other side and the person who holds the hearing and we’re just befuddled as to why we haven’t been given a date.”