2.
On July 10 the Fort Erie Town Council passed a revised by-law
for Lake Erie Waterfront Road Allowances (2006 improvements).
It is included here and we invite your comments. Although
there are some setbacks based on the original Oct. 2005
proposal it still shows the town is committed to lakefront
improvements. For that we applaud them.
3. The Town
is planning a major drainage project for the Thunder Bay
residential area. We support the project of course but object
to the proposed exit route for storm water. It is proposed
to empty it via a drain pipe that would stop at the high
water mark at Thunder Bay Beach (Bernard Road) then drain
over the sand beach and into the lake. Look to Bertie Bay
Beach to see the potential results: severe erosion of the
beach, children playing in contaminated storm water, and
the addition of a variety of chemicals and coliform bacteria
into the swimming area. We suggest an enhanced ditch on
the south side of Thunder Bay Rd. to carry water eastward
to Six Mile Creek.
4.
Encroachments:
The Town has completed surveys of Windmill Pt. and
Bertie Bay and found multiple examples of fences, hedges
and buildings that occupy public land, some by as much as
16 feet. The Town’s proposed encroachment policy would
allow most to stay upon a one time fee of $500 and an annual
fee of $150. A random survey of town residents leads me
to conclude that it’s almost unanimous that the public
wants the public land and not the dollars and that should
be the basis of any policy. When it comes to houses that
would be very expensive to move or remove we will be advocating
other alternatives but not a payment to permit encroachment.
5.
Right of Passage:
Our major objective is to expand walking rights along
the shoreline. To that end we are making contact with the
shoreline property owners associations to request a “Bruce
Trail like” handshake agreement system that would
open up the shorelines to walkers.
We
also are maintaining contact with MPP Kim Craitor in hopes
of furthering this agenda through the provincial legislature.
A meeting with him is scheduled for this week
6.
Mayor Wayne Redekop and the Town’s CAO, Harry Schlange
have continued to be very helpful to Shorewalk. We don’t
always agree but they have always been co-operative and
accessible.
7.
The Town’s final draft of the Official Plan is due
out soon. Chief Planner Dave Heyworth has also endevoured
to be helpful and the new OP will include a section dedicated
to shoreline policy.
8.
Shorewalk Port Colborne president Lisa Ciolfi and I met
with Port Colborne’s Special Projects Planner Dan
Aquilina recently. We have initiated through him and Recreation
Department manager Tom Lannin a useful dialogue for future
study of their shoreline.
9.
Wainfleet Shorewalk will be developing a study of their
shoreline features over the next months under the guidance
of Colin Krueger.
