Mary Ann Willmott of Midland recently sent a letter to the town of Midland calling on the town to prohibit personal watercraft on the sands of Gawley Park Beach.
During a recent hot day, Willmott and her five-year-old grandson were just two of the many residents enjoying the small beach on the shores of Georgian Bay, located opposite to the downtown core in Sunnyside.
According to Willmott, boaters moored onto the beach and raised their motor up, causing a potential safety hazard with her grandson and other children playing on the beach.
When Willmott confronted the owner of the boat, an exchange occurred involving rude comments and swearing, with the boaters acting belligerent to Willmott, she claims.
“They started getting rude and swearing, and I thought that was enough,” Willmott told MidlandToday. “We actually packed up and left. It was a hot sunny day, I live in Midland, I pay taxes; we had to leave the beach because I wasn’t going to subject my grandson to that kind of language.”
“And then there were three more boats on the other end. She said, ‘Why aren’t you over there bugging those boats?’ I said, ‘Obviously because I’m leaving.’ There’s no point, it doesn’t make sense,” exclaimed Willmott in frustration.
Willmott contacted the OPP about the matter, followed by a letter to Mayor Stewart Strathearn.
According to Willmott, the OPP returned her call a few days later but she declined to follow up due to frustration.
“It’s usually small boats: Sea-Doos. A lot of Sea-Doos go in there. They park on the beach,” said Willmott. “The day before there were two Sea-Doos that were pulling the kids on tubes, so they use the beach like a landing spot.”
After sending her email to the mayor, Willmott stated that no response had been received from the town.
“The town does absolutely nothing,” said Willmott. “Every year come August, it’s the only beach Midland has available to swim in because the other two are polluted. It’s either algae in Little Lake, or Pete Pettersen (which) has been so polluted for the last 10 years that nobody swims in it.”
In response to questions from MidlandToday, Mayor Strathearn explained that the letter that had been sent to him had “slipped through the cracks”.
Strathearn remarked that even though he hadn’t personally witnessed the problem of watercraft on the beach in his visits with his family, that doesn’t diminish Willmott’s concerns.
“I can’t see excluding people on the basis of how they arrive at the park, as long as they’re not interfering with other people,” Strathearn added.
Ward 3 Councillor Cher Cunningham, representative of the area for Gawley Park Beach, said the incident is another example of a citizen's concerns going unanswered.
“We’ve had customer service issues with the town not being responsive, not tracking requests, not following through, which is why the E-service is there,” Cunningham said.
Midland instituted the E-service system in recent years as a way to improve expediency of issues within the town and its residents.
Cunningham explained the process of having an assigned open ticket which allows for tracking, tracing, map plotting, progress, resolution, contact information, and many other systems which benefit from a citizen using the E-service provided.
Strathearn also encouraged residents to use the town’s E-service.
“It accomplishes a couple of things,” Strathearn explained. “It goes through the customer experience group. It’s also moderated by bylaw. What happens, is you put it in there and it’s like a work order at an automotive shop. You’re assigned a number, and it’s an open ticket.
“It prompts forgetful people like me, for example, to actually respond,” he added with a small chuckle.
Strathearn stated he would pass Willmott’s email and concerns to town operations staff and would be contacting her directly to speak about the concern.
A link to the E-service customer service request form is available at the top of the town of Midland website.