Dock Area Shoreline Protection

Launching Beach for Small Watercraft.

Thank you Brett and Kevin for listening to our concerns. Two of our group of 9 kayakers went to the Town Open House on June 7 at the Community Centre. Counsellor Disero introduced us to Brett. He was quite helpful and open to discussion. Jane, from the firm hired to present shoreline protection alternatives, explained to us that there was allowance for a small watercraft launching area to the west of the historic culvert. There is currently a small gravel type beach there. We initially thought the east end of the beach would be more practical because it was closer to parking. Our discussion ended up with Bretts' suggestion of a 4ft wide concrete walking ramp to easily get in and out of the water at the east end. BUT then the 2 of us kayakers went to 'Balls Beach' to have a look at the restored historical culvert and the 3 possible nooks for launching. We now think that (let's call it) nook 1 and 2 which are the east end of the beach, one on each side of the storm water outlet - are both too steep to incorporate a launch ramp into them. It looks like a very impractical proposal. I would love to see them make it work, but it doesn't look feasible. (We should have gone to the beach before the meeting) The bank is too high and the ramp would end up being set too far back. So we are supportive of the original launch beach at the west end of the Historic Culvert on Balls Beach which Jane had explained to us earlier as we viewed the diagrams at the Town Open House. Please note that we do not want to have to carry our kayaks up/over or across an uneven rock surface to get to the water. The launch site needs to be a gradual slope in order to make it safe. We would also like to keep the current 4 or 5 parking spots that have always been in the 'staging area.' We understand there are plans to eliminate these parking spots in the 'staging area.' Why do those parking spots have to be taken away? If people park where they shouldn't-then ticket or tow, but don't take away our public parking area. Why should us local people be robbed of that? Walking from the staging area for 100m to the small beach at the west end with a 45 pound kayak is already a bit of a daunting task and now its being suggested that we park at the large lot that is over 230m east of the preferred launch site. We feel its important to make it easy for residents to participate in sports. The more complicated it is to get your small craft in the water, the less likely you are to do it. We live in Niagara-on-the-Lake and want it to feel like its a town that values its residents and the sports they love.