Time to support Burlington’s marina
No evidence that investing in LaSalle marina will harm swan population
Most communities around Lake Ontario have a marina including Whitby, Cobourg, Pickering, Trenton. Some are municipally owned. Burlington’s marina was paid for and run as a non-profit by local boaters as the LaSalle Park Marina Association (LPMA) since 1981. Now in 2018 most of the marina is new without expenditure by the City of Burlington. The city, however, owns the marina. Despite the success of marinas around the lake Burlington’s marina is threatened.
The present steel breakwater was never good enough in the worst storms. To make matters worse the frequency and severity of east winds, which affect the marina the most, have increased. The marina suffers severe wind/wave events each year that cause damage to boats and the marina itself. One insurance company no longer writes new policies for boats at the marina. The breakwater is at the end of its life and performance cannot be improved. The resulting insurance issue is a threat to the marina’s viability.
The LPMA for at least the last decade as a joint venture with the City of Burlington sought the assistance of the city to create loans and or secure grants to allow construction of a permanent breakwater that would protect the marina for good. No help was forthcoming from the city for the breakwater.
Perhaps a factor was the virulent opposition of a small group of hobbyists enthusiastic about feeding and counting trumpeter swans. For some reason they took a strong dislike to the marina and its plan and then disseminated their mistaken complaints through social media. There is no credible evidence the marina would have any deleterious effects on the swans. In Bluffers Park there are four yacht club marinas, one commercial marina and one gas dock — and a family of trumpeter swans every year. Particularly outrageous was the opposition of the swan people to LPMA’s financial plan. No apology was forthcoming when the city’s qualified analysts verified the plan was appropriate. Swans would be interested to know the new marina setup would entail ice suppression which would mean the swans would no longer have to fly out to the lake for open water safety from coyotes and foxes during winter nights. The swan people didn’t like that either. The swan people and friends seemed to say anything they felt like and largely they’ve gotten away with it. Is it any wonder that the environment assessment process at Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change repudiated the trumped up assertions of the swan people?
My friends and I volunteer to teach adult sailing and to help provide the Able Sail program (sailing for disabled folks) whereas others help run the summer sailing school day camp at the Burlington Sailing and Boating Club (BS&BC). These benefits depend on the viability of the marina and the Burlington Sailing and Boating Club — which will disappear if the marina founders. Without an effective breakwater that will allow the docks to remain in the water year round the marina will not exist for long.
The present council has now decided to take over the project and has allocated $4 million for a floating breakwater. I hope the new council will uphold that decision, but with so much misinformation around I worry that confusion may get in the way.
Some people feel there should be no allocation for the marina. Behind their concerns may be the assumption that the allocation would go to a private business. That is clearly wrong. Some say too much money for too few — we are about 500 people; why are we dismissed? Probably they don’t know how and how much money is flowing in parks and culture.
The boaters deserve at least a little bit of what the users of parks and culture expect as a given. Parks spent $66 million in 2017, but recovered only 23 per cent of that from user fees. Moreover, the users did not pay individually for the capital to build the 277 physical facilities they use. Wait, don’t forget the $14 million for an arena that has just popped up. Sweet deal for the users!
Unlike most users the boaters have paid their way entirely. The city’s own decision now represents just a tiny one-time expense compared to the year after year subsidy of $51 million to other users. The proposed breakwater capital project is financial dust on the floor compared to the annual expenditures of Parks and Culture Burlington. Moreover, it’s the right thing to do.
An effective and reliable breakwater is essential for the continuation of the marina and other aquatic activities at LaSalle Park. We have just endured another vicious wind event in the remnants of tropical storm Gordon. The remnants of hurricane Florence came close. Any one of these could cause catastrophic damage to the marina.
Now is the time to ensure a reliable breakwater for the marina is forthcoming quickly. Let’s be a city on the lake that has a great marina, not a city that threw its marina away.