|
|
|
Point Clark beach moved to a new location By Darrell Ziegler What has been a favourite swimming area for residents and visitors alike for years, the Point Clark Beach, will no longer be classed as a “public bathing area” in its present, historic location. It was decided by Huron-Kinloss council at the January 8 meeting in Ripley to move the “public bathing area” about 200-feet to the north, hoping to avoid more beach postings in the years to come. Lou D’Alessandro, of the Grey Bruce Health Unit spoke to council at the meeting, on the unit’s 2006 Beach Management Report, released to council back in September 2006. D’Alessandro said at the start of the 2006, that sampling was done at the same location as in previous years. “The five sampling sites site locations were evenly spread out in front of the designated beach area at the lighthouse. The first two dates, the sample results came back acceptable and the following four dates, the sampling came back adverse, above the standard.” The health unit posted the beach for the month of July, until it was decided to relocate the beach sampling sites in hopes of better results. The beach was closed for seven weeks total. Read that story by clicking here Sampling for the next two weeks were done in the Clark Creek area, those too were over the acceptable limit for bacteria. The site was then moved further north, to the Pine River Boat Club, “where the water was clearer.” The first sample at that location, taken July 13, 2006, was higher than it should be, but the following three came back well within acceptable levels. D’Alessandro said however, there were concerns from local cottagers that “the beach should in fact begin at Clark Creek because so many cottagers and residents swim there and wanted to be sure it was safe to swim there. Samples taken in August 16 and 21 at that area were within acceptable levels. “There’s a problem by the lighthouse, there are things I can suggest to improve it, but it comes with a cost. I think people want to see that area cleaned up.” He went on to tell council, “There are solutions out there, but which one is the right one? We can sample 200-300-feet up, or try to fix the problem.” Councillor Anne Eadie said, “In the short term, it would be best to move the beach 200-300-feet north.” Councillor Jim Hanna said it’s important for people to know where the beach starts. Don Thorp, president of the Point Clark Beach Association, (PCBA), along with executive Dave Hyman were also at the meeting. Neither liked the idea of moving the sign north, believing that if the sign (indicating where the public beach begins) gets moved 200-feet north enough, that, “Eventually we’ll be in Lurgan Beach.” The health unit also recommended more public health signs be posted to indicate where the public swimming areas are and that efforts continue to be made by the health unit and the township to effectively communicate with residents in respect to their concerns and issues about beaches. D’Alessandro added, “many complaints received about beaches were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Environment.” In the end, council decided to designate another area of the beach as the “public bathing area” and put signs up at every public walkway along the beach. The township also agreed to include a sign at the lighthouse indicating that “this is no longer a public bathing area,” with an arrow pointing north, towards where the new bathing area begins. D’Alessandro also recommended removing Poplar Beach from the monitoring program in 2007. He said the slippery rocks pose a safety hazard to people walking in the water and that when testing was done, it was noted that very few people used that area to swim. |
|