Following multiple questions sent to town councillors about the state of Sunset Point Beach, council requested an update this week on the work being done to the retaining wall on the site.
During their July 24 committee of the whole meeting, Dean Collver, director of parks, recreation and culture, gave the update council was asking for.
“I guess with the park being such an attraction, everybody is down there and is writing to council,” said Mayor Yvonne Hamlin, with a laugh.
Damage to the Sunset Point shoreline dates back more than four years, when the town started demarcating areas of concern with pylons and barricades in December 2018.
At that time, Collver said the erosion along Collingwood’s nearly 50 kilometres of shoreline had escalated with the rising water levels in Georgian Bay.
In October 2019, multiple weather events washed away significant portions of the shoreline, including portions of the base of the Inuksuk. In November of 2019, Collver estimated it would cost about $300,000 to put protections in place to prevent further loss of property, and told council the town did not qualify for the Municipal Disaster Assistance Program to help pay to repair the damage.
Since that time, the town has worked to repair the shoreline.
“The questions we’re getting recently have a lot to do with a practice to descend the grassy slope on the west side of the west beach, climb over the former retaining wall and use that as a launch point for swimming activity,” Collver told councillors on Monday.
“With the new revetments, that’s no longer possible or advisable. In truth, it wasn’t advisable previously,” he said.
Collver said visitors to the beach should be using the beach head entrances adjacent to St. Lawrence Street.
“I do understand it is a change in practice for some members of the community, and change is always very difficult,” said Collver. “We’re very close to concluding and we hope to have it completed and cleaned up in short order.”
Following the meeting in an interview with CollingwoodToday, Collver said the work is nearing completion, with some final work to be done at the north-most point and ground repair.
“Through an engineering process, a new high water mark was established and the appropriate protections had to be put in place to make sure we weren’t losing more parkland,” he said.
For more information on Sunset Point Beach, click here.
