Charlottetown Farmers Market launches adopt-a-pothole campaign

It's another sign of spring but one that's not welcome potholes.

Charlottetown Farmers Market manager BerniePlourde says the market spends about $6,000 a year dealingwith potholes in its gravel parking lot so this year it's launched a new fundraising campaign urgingcustomers to adopt a pothole.

"We're on a swamp, so every year around spring we get potholes and they just keep digging out at the hole and the hole keeps getting bigger and bigger until we have small craters here and there."

Ongoing repairs

Ifthey make the repairs too early, heavy spring rain washes out all the gravel used to fill the holes, Plourdesaid.

"It's a big investment so I get a lot of 'Hey, when are you going to fix the parking lot?' and that's usually in April and by the first week of May, second week of Maywe go at it."

A market member helped provide a quick fix this week bygrading the parking lot with his tractor.

"Then we put the barricades so people can't use the parking lot throughout the day to allow everything to dry up and then by Saturday when people come in and drive through the lot hopefully they'll tamp down what we've graded."

Plourdesaid in a month, they'llpour more gravel into the holes, grade it andtampit down again.

Big expense

It's too expensive to pavethe whole parking lot, Plourdesaid sothe market came up with the fundraiser to offsetthe pothole repaircosts.

Ploudre said they also want to protect the habitat around the market, especially the location where Lucy the duck lives and raises her ducklings each year after they hatch at the nearby Atlantic Superstore.

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With as many as 2,000 people visiting the market each Saturday and parking in the half-hectare lot, the manager is hoping customers will be willing to help.

"Weget a good following here at the market and if folks want to give a loonie or toonie to adopt a pothole they're still there under this new gravel they'll probably be back after this week, so we may make a month of it," Plourde said.

Plourdeis hoping customers see the humour in the campaign.

"Someone told me I should maybe change my [name] plate to 'grovelling for gravel.' But let's just start with a bucket and volunteers and see how it goes."

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