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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLakeshore Advance, 2011-09-28, Page 31 Wednesday, September 28, 2011 • Lakeshore Advance 3 Lambton Shores council will implement action for beach enhancement project Lynda HIIIman-Rapley Lakeshore Advance 'Ihe general consensus is that the l ;nand Bend Beach Enhancement project has worked extremely well in achieving its Original objectives and that only mitten tweaks of the site plan are needed.1Vith Latnbton Shores council direction at last week's general meeting, one change will be implemented this year anti the other three will go to the 2012 httdgt't talks. 'The overview of the Grand Bend Keach Enhancement - The (rand Bend Beach Enhancement was a project that emerged front the Municipality's Strategic Plan and an extensive public consultation exercise facilitated by E1)A Collaborative, the project consultant. 'the printaty objectives of the enhancement plan wen' to impntvv the overall accessibility of the beach to persons of all ages and physical ability, to reintroduce the native natuntl habitat that once existed on the beach, without conn promising its use as a major tourist draw and venue for the community and lastly to enhance safety for visitors and risers of the beach. The'actiun' ante 1111111 find ings of Geoff Peach of The Lake I tut on Centre for Coastal Conservation who was one of the agencies consulted in relation to the Beach Enhancement and a group consisting of Councillor Dave Maguire, Stephanie Donaldson, Peggy Matt !Aiello West and CAO John Byrne who toured the site on June 16th. 'Ihe action that will take place this year is the Beach Dune Crass Plots the "Mar rant Grass" in 90% of the dont' re'gent's tion areas has taken hold and is thriving, The "Dune Regeneration Agt'as" an' key to our retention of the Bite Flag and Cont nlunities in Bloom awards. 'they sur also key to our efforts to better control the transmission of sand sediments from the beach from moving inward to the Alain St. and other parts of the village and there fore most of the existing Dunt' areas will retrain in their current locations but tug mented with additional plantings of Mar - ram Grass as recommended by the Coastal Centre. Action: As suggested by The Coastal Centre, staff and volunteers (hopefully children from the Grand Bend School senior grades) will assist staff in filling in ,se dune plots with additional Murrain eiass plants, which we will obtain from lhe Pinery Provincial Park. 'they also plan on removing the "snow fencing' along the east side of the boardwalk and replacing those sections with the same vnod picket fencing used for the Natural Plant (urrdett areas. We will also be removing the side panels of "snow fencing" on these dune plots but will retain the "snow fencing" on the lake side of the dunes for an additional year to ensure that the dune areas are pm- tected, Staff will work with Councillor Dave Maguire to relocate the two dune regeneration areas west of the Rotary Per- formance Plaza and the "Blue Hag" flag pole to new locations on the beach, this will involve the replanting of the new dunes, possibly this fall, For next years budget The Natural Plant Garden Areas the natural plant garden areas are a new and Grand Bend beach complex undertaking, Planted itt the early spring and fall of 2(X$), the sutural gaiYten areas were largely neglected in 21110 due to staff time being committed elsewhere, These garden areas require reltl'Wed attention. Among the improvements made to date is the replacement of the "sntty fend'" enclosures with wooden picket type fencing, which is much more aesthetically pleasing. 'ihe Natural Plant Gardens are key to our blue Klug and Communities in Bloom awards and to our strategy of managing blowing sand at the beach rather than inland from it. Action: 'the next phase will be to tackle the plants themselves as Is being suggested itt the Coastal (:entre summary. 'leo this effect, staff and volunteer help will he planting "I ong Reed Crass" and "Little. Bluestein" plants in these plots. 'the Armour Stone the Armour Stone areas on the west (lake) side of the dune n'ge'nenttion atlas have a number of pntc- tical purposes and functions, First they establish the lime of protection for the dune regl'neratioin anew themselves, se'c- ondly they establish the beach grade level for maintenance purposes and serve any a guide to staff when grading is required. "lhindly, they serve as seating and standing areas for visitors to the beach, the organ- izers oldie recent "Not So Pct" beach vol- leyball event support the retention of the armour stone seating areas as they were well utilized by their participants and observers and did not create an obstruc- tion or safety hazard to their event as first suspected. 'thee Amour Stone also serves as a viewing area for sunset viewers and other events such as the (Canada 1)ay Fire- works, Action: We will retain existing Armour Stone areas but remove larger decorative stones from within the dune regeneration array as recommended. The "Scoured out" area near the Pier the area of beach adjacent to the Pier has always been an al'g'a that is tough to maintain, simply because we are battling against Mother Nature. The forces of the lake (waves, C'urre'nt, riptide) sim- ply mean that the efforts to pre- vent these actions are doomed to failure. What has been suggested is the establishment of a "Dune Restoration Area" in the lea of this scoured out area to serve as an impediment to people wanting to or inadvertently venturing into this area, As suggested by Councillor Dave Maguire anti the Coastal Celan. that we also improve safety signage in this area to warn people about the "Itip (:urgent" and stake them aware of the area anti the dangers inherent with it. The installation of a dune regeneration area will also assist with reducing the effect of plowing salad. Action: We will establish, with the assist atltt'e oldie Coastal (.entre, a dune regeneration area in proximity to tett' scoured but area of the be'ac'h and we will get additional signage installed in time for the 2012 Lynda IMllman•Raplsy lakeshao AAvanco season to warn visitors about the rip tides in this area. Councilor Ruth Ilintan said she is cautious about narking changes to such a big endeavour that included fund raising. She wants to he assured that the work that has been done -as in collecting sand and keeping it away forst the attain street- continues. She cred- ited this group for coming up with the compromises to make this work. She reminded the council this is a managed cunt' project and they can track the process. the Lakeshore Advance will be CLOSED: MONDAY OCTOBER 10TH (Thanksgiving I)ay) for the Wednesday, October 12th edition will be as follows: EDITORIAL, CLASSIFIED & DISPLAY ADVERTISING Thursday, October 6th @ 2:00 pm 58 Ontario St., N., Grand Bend NOM 1'1'O Pal: 519-238-5383 FA X : 519-238-5131 Iadvanre@bowesnet.cunt