Community beach cleanup planned for next week

Crews in Penticton have returned to the lakeshore this week to continue the cleanup of the beaches on Okanagan Lake.

“We’re doing what we can to restore the beaches for residents and visitors without compromising the flood prevention efforts,” said public works manager Len Robson.

To date, the City has left much of the debris along the lakeshore to help prevent erosion. With no recent increases in water levels, the City is resuming clean-up activities. On Friday, crews were able to clean Peach Beach and the area in front of the SS Sicamous. Next efforts will focus on portions of Okanagan Lake Park beach.

All sandbags and tiger dams will remain in place to prevent flooding and will be removed when it is determined it is safe to do so.

The City has organized a community clean-up for Wednesday, June 21 between 10 a.m. and noon at Marina Way Beach. This beach experienced some of the largest accumulations of debris. Members of the community are invited to join City crews for the clean-up.

“The support from the community throughout this emergency has been outstanding,” Penticton Mayor Andrew Jakubeit said in a statement.

“We’ve received many offers to help and we welcome some assistance with the clean-up. Because of the volume of debris, a lot of the clean up on Marina Way Beach will be manual.”

Volunteers will be asked to place the debris in central areas to assist with pick-up by the equipment. Anyone wanting to assist City crews is asked to have leather work gloves, wear closed toe shoes for personal protection and to bring a rake and shovel. City staff will be on hand with wheelbarrows and to coordinate volunteer efforts.