Tag: Waterfront

Why not Sell the Trailer Park

John Draper

At the next regular Council meeting on 22 November, Council will receive a letter from Ron Smith who is obviously a new resident in Cobourg.  His residence is at the new Legion Condo building on Orr street and he makes a proposal that shows he is not aware of the previous heated controversy on the subject.  His 7 page letter also includes concerns that Council might spend a large amount of taxpayer money on a development at Brookside, a suggestion to use the Memorial Arena as an Arts and Culture centre and some unhappiness at the thought that the Town must pay for maintenance of the New Amherst Clock.  But his final proposal is the zinger – he wants the… Read complete articleWhy not Sell the Trailer Park

Report on Waterfront Operations

John Draper

Teresa Behan, Deputy Director of Community Services, submitted a report on Monday to the CoW meeting of Council that gave an overview of the operational performance of the four waterfront  “business” units: the Marina, the Campground, the Marie Dressler Dredger and the Harbour.  The intent was “to enhance transparency for upcoming budget deliberations”.  The report was for 2021 YTD and given their seasonal nature, this covers most of the year’s activity.  Teresa notes that the Marina and Campground are funded by user fees (breakeven with any profit as a dividend to the Town), the dredger is funded by its users which includes the Harbour and external contracts and the Harbour is funded by the tax levy. I think that’s the… Read complete articleReport on Waterfront Operations

Walkway to Cobourg’s Lighthouse too Expensive

John Draper

At the March 8 Committee of the Whole (C.O.W.) Council Meeting, it was decided to ask for an estimate of the cost of making a walkway from the East Pier out to the lighthouse.  At the C.O.W. meeting on Monday, this estimate was provided and discussed.  According to the Town’s Engineering Manager, Terry Hoekstra, adding a pathway would cost about $3 million (+30%, more detail below). This is in addition to the cost of repairing the breakwater under the path. It seems that a breakwater can be allowed to move a little but a path must not. This means piles would be required as well as the armour stone. It also means that it would cost even more if done separately to fixing the… Read complete articleWalkway to Cobourg’s Lighthouse too Expensive

Travel Lift rejected – again

John Draper

You would think the subject would be dead by now, but it won’t die.  Once again, Council were asked to consider a report on options for lifting boats out of the Harbour at the end of the season and one of the options was a Travel Lift.  Ted Williams spotted it on the Agenda of the Committee of the Whole Meeting on Monday and made a presentation that objected to the idea – his concern was that the cost would be subsidized by taxpayers who would not be using the service. Ted pointed out that the big advantage of a Travel Lift is that it could be used at any time and not just at the start and ending of… Read complete articleTravel Lift rejected – again

By-laws are being enforced on Cobourg Beach

John Draper

Perhaps we don’t see it or something but the Town has felt it necessary to let everyone know that the Police and By-Law officers are enforcing Town By-Laws on the Beach.  They are educating but also issuing tickets for infractions.  The usual problem of alcohol is the biggest issue but people are also smoking, using BBQs, bringing their dogs onto the Beach and more – see the list below.  They also issue a lot of parking tickets and make the comment that most people are using the Honk-Mobile app and pay out $20 for all-day parking.  So far the beach has not been over-crowded; further, my non-scientific assessment is that the Beach seemed more crowded on some week-days than weekends… Read complete articleBy-laws are being enforced on Cobourg Beach

Cobourg Beach Now Fully Open

John Draper

After two months of being closed on weekends and holidays, Cobourg Council decided on Monday to re-open Victoria Beach seven days a week.  First, James Quelch and Rachael Currie presented a petition from 125 residents asking for the Beach to be fully open and then the DBIA provided a report on what Downtown merchants thought.  But it was not a simple “open or not” discussion – Councillors wondered how staff and enforcement would cope with large crowds or even an emergency shutdown mandated by the Heath Unit or the Province.  Nicole Beatty spearheaded the push to open the beach and she was willing to be flexible to accommodate concerns.  Aaron Burchat wanted to fully re-open with no fence but his… Read complete articleCobourg Beach Now Fully Open

Swimming in West Harbour to be Banned

John Draper

With Victoria Beach closed on Weekends and Holidays and limited to 1200 capacity on weekdays, visitors will be looking for other local beaches.  The West Beach would be a good bet but it’s not groomed and hard for visitors to find.  Another obvious swimming spot is the beach in the Harbour along the West headland.  Locals avoid it because they know that it’s often unsafe because of a high e-coli count caused by water that doesn’t move much and pollution from gulls and ducks.  The main Harbour area on the east side (see picture below) is already a “no-swimming” area because of the danger from boats but Council moved on Monday to also ban swimming in the rest of the… Read complete articleSwimming in West Harbour to be Banned

Managing Crowds at Cobourg’s Beaches

John Draper

Cobourg residents and Councillors have expressed concern about managing the crowds attracted to Cobourg’s beaches – this has been a special concern with the onset of the pandemic but even in normal times, beach crowds can be a problem.  To address this, the Town created a survey and asked the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee (PRAC) to generate recommendations on “how the municipality can manage the popularity of Victoria Park Beach.” Survey results were published in March (see link below to Cobourg News Blog report) – and with the help of Community Services Staff, the PRAC have now published their recommendations and will ask the next Committee of the Whole to accept them.  It’s quite comprehensive but being recommendations and not… Read complete articleManaging Crowds at Cobourg’s Beaches

Move on Council to Open Beach on Weekends

John Draper

At tonight’s Committee of the Whole Council meeting, Councillor Nicole Beatty  moved that the beach be opened on weekends as well as weekdays effective June 26.  She was supported by Councillor Burchat but Mayor Henderson wanted any opening delayed past July 1.  However, before there was any debate, Town Clerk Brent Larmer pointed to a procedural problem:  a previous approved motion closed the beach on weekends until September so a new motion cannot proceed without a motion to re-consider.  He suggested ways to overcome this but they required a two-thirds majority vote.  A more moderate approach would be to go through a process which would delay a final vote for a couple of meetings, but it would allow input from… Read complete articleMove on Council to Open Beach on Weekends

Fish Cleaning Changes proposed

John Draper

In September 2019, citizens made complaints to Council about the Marina.  There were two main concerns: (1) electric power was cut off when water levels were high (as they were in 2017 and 2019) and (2) concerns about visitors abusing fishing privileges – notably to do with the fish cleaning table (see photo below).  The Town was quick to upgrade the Electrical system – that’s now fixed.  And now at the Committee of the Whole Meeting on 21 June, Town staff are recommending removing the fish cleaning table altogether and banning the cleaning of fish on municipal property.  A survey was conducted of other municipalities and it seems others have had the same problem and now ban fish cleaning.  You… Read complete articleFish Cleaning Changes proposed