Council Reports: June 26, 2006

Confidential/Closed Session; List of Municipally-Owned Property Available for Concession 1; Signs About Beach Postings; Tiny Trail Bridges Re-Opened; Woodland Beach Management IssuesREPORT ON COUNCILJune 26, 2006
Committee of the Whole Meeting: 9:03 a.m. – 1:27 p.m. 
Regular Evening Meeting: 7:06 p.m. – 7:48 p.m.
All Members of Council present.

CONFIDENTIAL / CLOSED SESSION: 12:30 p.m. – 1:27 p.m.

LIST OF MUNICIPALLY-OWNED PROPERTY AVAILABLE FOR CONCESSION 1: A list of municipally owned properties for Concession 1 is now available. It includes Property Identifier Numbers (PIN). Landowners in that area should check the list and make sure that it agrees with their own records

SIGNS ABOUT BEACH POSTINGS: When the geometric mean of the Health Unit’s 5 or 6 samples at a particular beach exceeds 100 E. coli per 100 ml of water, the Health Unit recommends that the Township post a warning that swimming may be unsafe at that beach. Township staff must then decide where to post the warning signs. For the stretch of shore from the 8th Con W to Jackson Park, for example, the Health Unit makes a single recommendation to post. Yet, often only one sign has been posted, and people arriving at other access points were given no indication that water conditions may have been unsafe. Last fall a letter was written by Henk Blom, Manger of Public Works, to a concerned citizen in the area, saying that signs would be posted at two points in the future, when the Health Unit advised, at the 8th Concession access and at Jackson Park. Yet this was not done this June when E. coli numbers were high for that group of samples.
Council looked at the map of the area and assigned 3 locations where warning signs are to be placed in the future. At the end of the discussion we understood that there was to be a review of all locations for warning signs at all the beaches monitored by the Health Unit – should the Health Unit recommend posting – and that there would be discussion of the placing of warning signs at the next meeting.

TINY TRAIL BRIDGES RE-OPENED: Now that the ten derelict railway bridges have been removed and replaced with creek level footbridges, the prettiest part of the Tiny Trail has been re-opened as of June 17th, and we recommend that everyone walk that stretch of the Trail from the access point on Overhead Bridge Road, south into Tiny. Councillor Breckenridge observed that a different sort of Trail Committee is needed now than in the past, and asked that Staff prepare a report about the function a Trails Committee might serve.

WOODLAND BEACH MANAGEMENT ISSUES: More than a year ago, the Woodland Beach Property Owners Association approached Council, asking for a discussion about management of the beach in their area. They wanted to bypass the issue of ownership and move on to a discussion of beach management. Their lawyer said that he had information about private ownership of parts of the shore claimed by the Township. Council wanted the Township lawyer to review the information before proceeding. For various reasons, the information was never conveyed by the lawyer to the Township.
At this meeting, it was said that the Township’s title was clear, so delineation of the extent of Township ownership was to proceed, through the placing of delineation posts and signs. At the request of the association, grooming of the beach is to be restricted to the area directly in front of Woodland Beach Park until staff meets with the Association.