Town of Goderich hires security firm after falling behind on beach bylaw enforcement
BY BOB MONTGOMERY
The Town of Goderich has agreed to hire a security company to enforce municipal bylaws and provincial offences at the waterfront.
Goderich Town Council held a special meeting last Friday morning to address some problems down at the waterfront.
Goderich Mayor Trevor Bazinet says the popularity of the Goderich shoreline has grown significantly over this summer, and that’s a very good thing. However, he says they’ve reached the point where they don’t have enough staff to enforce their bylaws. He says they have 1,000 people down at the waterfront on a Saturday or Sunday and they’re happy about that, but at this point, it’s more than they can handle and they have to do something to address that.
Bazinet says they want people to enjoy themselves on the waterfront, while still respecting the rules, and right now they don’t have enough bylaw enforcement officers to educate people about the bylaws or, when necessary, issue tickets.
Bazinet says they’re also concerned about the potential for a fire or any other emergency down at the waterfront and the ability of emergency vehicles, like a fire truck, to get to the emergency. And in some cases, people are using charcoal barbecues, which are prohibited, and dumping the charcoal in places where it could start a fire, so they want to create zones where people can’t park so that emergency vehicles could get to an emergency.
Bazinet says there are signs down at the waterfront now that explain several of the bylaws and council’s goal is to explain the bylaws, rather than writing tickets.
At Friday’s special meeting council did vote in favour of hiring a security company that can enforce their bylaws, first by educating people about the bylaws and then issuing tickets if that’s necessary. Bazinet adds, council realizes something has to be done now and this is a short-term solution to get through this summer and then they’ll look for a longer-term solution for next year.
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Goderich Mayor Trevor Bazinet says he would like to see more education to help residents and visitors who are using the Goderich beaches.
Bazinet says one concern for him is that Huron Perth Public Health checks the water for high E. coli levels twice a week, but that the town doesn’t get the test results until 24 hours after the water has been tested and not everyone knows that. He says the town also posts signs on the beaches where the levels are high, but not everyone knows where those signs are posted. He also points out that it’s up to every individual to decide if they want to go in the water and a lot of people aren’t aware of that either.
Furthermore, Huron Perth Public Health is responsible for testing the water and posting the results, not the Town of Goderich. So he’d like someone from Huron Perth Public Health to come to council and make a presentation about some of the things that would help educate people about the protocols at the beaches.
Bazinet says another problem is the use of charcoal barbecues on the beaches.
The town has a bylaw prohibiting them on the beach and people could be given a ticket for using them. But Bazinet says a lot of visitors coming to Goderich would have no idea charcoal barbecues are prohibited on the beaches. He would prefer to find some way of educating visitors as to what is allowed and what isn’t, rather than giving visitors tickets. He says council wants Goderich to be known as a welcoming community and handing out tickets doesn’t send the right message.
Bazinet adds that most of that information can be found on the Huron Perth Public Health website, as well as on the Town of Goderich’s website or, if people have any questions about what is allowed, they can call the town hall.