| Crystal Beach Strand page two |
| LA-LA-LA WE CAN'T HEAR YOU |
| The crowd started filtering into council chambers shortly after 5:00 pm for the Regular Council Meeting on July 21, 2008 and by the time the mayor struck the gavel for order, the gallery overflowed into the foyer. It was obvious that there was an electricty in the air as the attendees waited through the mayor's announcements: 1.) In a response to the recent announcement about Douglas Memorial Hospital's pared-down future, the mayor is forming a committee of himself, former mayors Redekop and Teal as well as Russ Wilson, Councillors Annunziata and Lockwood to report to council on a regular basis. "We're all concerned about the report, but it will serve us no purpose to rail against the NHS," said the mayor. 2.) Martin re-iterated that the CSD 041.08 states clearly that the beach at Bay Beach will remain open and in the public domain with public parking. "We are not closing the Beach," he said. Following a couple of awards and a report on the Dash 'n' Splash for the Kinsmen Pool and a 10+ minute power point presentation about Brownfield Development, it was finally time to get to the reason why the large crowd was in attendance: the Bay Beach Properties. First speaker, Paul Lewis, Chair of the Friends of Crystal Beach had his own power point presentation, but first he complimented Rick Shular for representing his constituents in their fight against a 24 hour gas station in the Oakes Park neighbourhood. As a result of his efforts and the efforts of others, the zoning change was turned down. The pictures showed the parking lots, full to capacity; bathers enjoying the beautiful sand beach and crowds of people walking along Erie Road in Crystal Beach. There wer even photos of the beach taken over 100 years ago that showed hundreds of people walking along a boardwalk that used to be part of the scene. The FOCB have gathered well over 2500 names on a petition to the town to keep everything known as the Bay Beach Properties in public hands. The very active community group has been involved for several years in researching and planning what would be best for the public beach and its surrounding lands. Lewis and others have spoken to city and town officials all over North American for advice and suggestions about what to do with Bay Beach' |
| . Then Lewis went on to break down each point in the original study of the Bay Beach Properties from 2004 and its advice that green space attracts businesses and residents alike. He offered suggestions to increase the revenue from parking as well as the selling of bricks forming the pathway to the beach as well as a walkway along the beach that could potentially bring in over $260,000 in profit. Lewis showed unfinished developments in Crystal Beach and pointed out potential development spaces. It was then that the mayor informed him that he had exceeded his 10 minute time allotment. Lewis was surprised and asked incredulously, "You mean you don't want to hear what I have to say?" Ann-Marie Noyes made a motion to extend Lewis's time. He was given the extra time; despite a nay vote from Councillor Lockwood. He was able to complete his main points, but the crowd was clearly upset about nay vote from Lockwood. He was followed by Mary Ann Strath who pointed out that traditionally, the more green space a community has, the better able it is to draw visitors and residents. John McCarthy talked about parking problems, especially on Schooley Road and offered suggestions to alleviate the problem. He even thanked Councillor Lockwood for answering his e-mails and phone calls, but he has yet to receive an answer or see a solution to the problem. He also chided Lockwood for voting against giving Paul Lewis more time to speak. Other speakers echoed the concerns about the beach properties and the seeming lack of care given to the beach by the town's clean-up and landscaping crews. One pointed out that the close to $75,000. in parking revenue might be considered a "resonable return on the initial investment of over $2 million by the town," something that the town was most concerned with within months after the purchase of the lands in 2001. Don Lubberts pointed out that the town could follow the results of recommendations from the 2005 Beach Plan that stressed parkland and parking as the most important components of the Beach. He suggested that community groups could handle the early phase of that plan with some grass seed and sod, dismissing the earlier guesstimate of town planner Rino Mostacci (not in attendance) that it would cost $3 million to improve the beach. The mayor said that the $3 million was "not an accurate figure" yet it turned up on the staff recommendation as the reason that the lands could be sold as the town "cannot afford the $3 million needed to refurbish the Bay Beach Properties." (By then, the crowd was growing increasingly restless and frustrated.) Lubberts also brought up the close to $400,000 that is in a reserve fund called the "Waterfront Development and Tourism Fund." (Oops. That sounds like it could be a Jim T-Bird slush fund.) He was able to pin down the mayor on exactly what was agreed to on June 9. The mayor said that it was for $35,000. to be set aside to study the possible partnership and that was all. Later, though others said that the town just wasn't getting it; that this had been dealt with over five years ago. Then, Tom Lewis came to the podium ready to take on the mayor and council and get answers to the questions he asked at the June 16, 2008 meeting that were never answered. He reminded Councillor Lockwood that when he served as Ward 5 Councillor, even though he did not live in the ward, he was well-aware that his constituents wanted the Bay Beach Properties left in the public domain. Still frustrated with not getting an answer to his question as to who was behind this latest effort to sell off the Bay Beach Properties, he finally lost his temper and took the manilla envelope that contained 2003 petitions that had been signed by over 1000 people and slammed it on the dais in front of Martha Lockwood. Tom then said that Lockwood was "so out of touch with reality that it was pathetic." The mayor yelled that Tom was not showing proper respect for council to which Tom replied that "Council didn't deserve any respect." The crowd erupted into loud cheers and applause. The mayor then told Tom his time was up and called for a recess. |
| Don Lubberts with Artist's Rendering of Bay Beach of future. |
