Extreme weather has taken a major toll on Collingwood’s shoreline.
Director of Parks, Recreation and Culture Dean Collver gave an update to council on Wednesday night on the state of the Sunset Point shoreline and Heritage Drive, what is being done to fix the quickly eroding area of town, and a rough estimate of what that damage could end up costing taxpayers.
“We’re looking at about $300,000 to put protections in place to prevent further loss of property,” said Collver, while adding the cost is very preliminary estimate.
Collver said the town has been working with Tatham Engineering’s shoreline engineer since Oct. 17 to gather information on the impacts of the erosion of the shoreline, as well as short and long-term plans to prevent further damage to the sites.
“In the meantime, on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 we were hit with another substantial weather event which took even more property off of Sunset Point,” he said.
Collver showed images to council members highlighting the land that has been lost by the weather events.
“There are at least three or four impacted sections,” he said. “What’s threatening is, essentially, the softening of the shoreline that basically makes us very vulnerable to more weather events. It is threatening a significant piece of property.”
“We can expect an exacerbation as time goes by and the ground gets more softened,” he added.
Collver said Tatham has estimated it will cost $250,000 to remediate the site to protect the shoreline from further erosion.
“It’s not a complete solution. It will protect what has been lost and what is most vulnerable currently,” he said, adding it will cost approximately $50,000 to repair the existing grounds once machinery is placed there to accomplish the work.
Collver said he had calls in to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to inquire about the Municipal Disaster Assistance Program for help with the costs, but was informed the issue doesn’t meet the threshold to qualify.
“We were far short of minimum value for damage before they can put their protocols in place,” he said. “They did offer other suggestions and we will continue to pursue those other suggestions... for funding to support the repairs.”
Coun. Yvonne Hamlin commented other municipalities along Georgian Bay’s shoreline, including Meaford, are also dealing with similar shoreline erosion issues. She asked if there were other areas along Collingwood’s shoreline that could use remediation before they get to the point of requiring a repair.
“For a few years now we’ve been watching the effect of the high water levels on our shoreline. There are definitely other areas affected,” said Collver. “We’ve been doing the best we can to backfill and put some, admittedly, short-term remedies in place, hoping the water levels go down.”
“It’s not on our radar right now to do more than we’ve been doing,” he added, citing potential costs as the main reason.
Coun. Mariane McLeod asked about the Inukshuk at Sunset Point.
“It’s my understanding this was an in-memoriam donation. Have we been in contact with the donor to discuss with them about what Mother Nature has wrought?” she asked.
Deputy Mayor Keith Hull said he has been in contact with the donor family since it was discovered there were some structural issues.
“They’re aware and we’re keeping them apprised as we move forward,” he said.
Chief Administrative Officer Fareed Amin said more information on the issue, as well as a full report, would be presented to council at the Nov. 18 development and operations standing committee meeting.
