RFP Issued for Waterfront Changes

Cobourg’s Waterfront Plan recommended a large number of changes to the Harbour, the Marina, the Trailer Park (now called  the Campground), the west headland and the west beach.  A Request for Proposals (RFP) has now been issued asking for more details and cost estimates.  Closing date is October 27 and after four public meetings, the schedule calls for completion by the summer of 2021. Tenders for implementation are to be issued by Fall 2021 and construction will start Spring/summer 2022 – although these last two dates are tentative. However, even awarding of this preliminary work is yet to be confirmed pending Council’s review of the 2021 budget.  The scope is in two parts: the Campground and the area from the Centre Pier to the West Beach.

As you would expect, the RFP leans heavily on the “Waterfront User Needs and Detailed Design Assessment – Final Report”  (see links below), but with four public meetings – an initial meeting and three progress meetings – it is also mindful of public interest.  The scope of the RFP is “preparation of options, including public review of the options, detailed design of the approved works, preparation of tender documents and contract administration and inspection services for….” improvements to the Victoria Park Campground, the Marina, the West Harbour, the West Headland and the West Beach. 

Highlights of Changes
Summary – see RFP document in links for more detail

Campground

  • Improvements to help improve functional layout, visual appearance and overall attractiveness, upgrade buildings, replace infrastructure/services and to reduce visual and operational impact on the rest of the waterfront.
  • The new “buffer” area between the Campground and Beach will not be pursued [that involved using some beach area to move path away from campground]
  • Accommodate vehicles waiting to check-in on-site rather than on Division Street, which creates traffic problems
  • Upgrade the facility’s water, sanitary and electricity services, including to each campsite, as well as the potential upgrade and relocation of the on-site sanitary disposal station
  • Consider options for expanding the year-round use of the Campground through the potential introduction of yurts or single room cottages for short-term rentals and seasonal special events
  • New administration/washroom/laundry (service) facility

Marina/West Harbour

  • Dock and launch ramp for smaller, non-motorized craft that accommodates universal/accessible access;
  • Provide direct and safe access to the water from storage compounds;
  • Reconfiguring boat storage areas to improve configuration/efficiency/capacity, pedestrian circulation and parking for marina users;
  • Constructing a possible groin/shoreline revetment in conjunction with the lifting well to help minimize siltation of the slips from sand;
  • Enhancing the Centre Pier as a publicly accessible waterfront amenity/space and assessing the feasibility of extending power and water to the west side of the Pier;
  • Incorporating a footprint for the future replacement of the existing Waterfront Administration Building and Cobourg Yacht Club building with a new community waterfront building;
  • Providing a safe and permanent lifting well/haul-out slip to accommodate a travel lift … in the case where the Town chooses to construct the lifting well/haul-out slip at a later date.  A cost estimate to construct the lifting well/haul-out slip is also required in the base design scope of work.
Headland Proposal
Headland Proposal

West Beach and Headland

  • Preserving the Headland and West Beach as a naturalized area;
  • Leveraging views towards the town and harbour
  • Enhancing wildlife viewing opportunities, particularly for observing migratory birds in the harbour;
  • Providing safe and accessible walkways, seating and viewing platforms

Deliverables include:

  • Preliminary design drawings
  • Preparation for Public meetings
  • Detailed design drawings for the approved options
  • Construction cost estimate
  • Tender documents for the detailed design
  • Recommendation for award
  • Estimate for project management/contract administration and inspection services.

Quite the project!

When bids come in, we’ll know the cost since this includes construction estimates, but we won’t know if we can afford it for some time.  Award of this project is scheduled for 23 November 2020 – after we have some idea of the 2021 budget.

There is a special Council meeting on Tuesday October 20 at 1:00pm.  The meeting will discuss the impact of Covid-19 on the Town’s finances.  It will be virtual via Zoom but public input via email will be accepted.

Links

Addendum – 2 November 2020

At the Regular Council meeting on November 2, Councillor Chorley announced that the RFP issued per the news above has been withdrawn due to staffing and funding concerns.  Instead funds and effort would be focused on the necessary waterfront repairs.  This project is now on hold with no resumption date announced.

 

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ben burd
3 years ago

Has anybody posed the obvious question, or if they have has it been investigated; and that is why do we not park boats in the Trailer Park during the winter months? Lots of room but this where some people may object – masts have to be stepped (removed).

Conor
Reply to  ben burd
3 years ago

The same reason you don’t park trailers in the marina in the summer. Parked boats are ugly and need to be kept out of sight. Quit picking on the trailer park and leave it alone.

ben
Reply to  Conor
3 years ago

So Conor you are relying on an aesthetic argument as opposed to a reasonable suggestion. I would put it to you that the ugliness will be mitigated by the camouflage of the trees.

Conor
Reply to  ben
3 years ago

Perhaps you could tell me where is “camouflage of trees” in the winter?

ben burd
Reply to  Conor
3 years ago

Perhaps Conor you could tell me why you think there are no trees in the campground?

Conor
Reply to  ben burd
3 years ago

I know there are trees in the campground but there are no leaves on the trees in the winter hence where is the camouflage?

Ken Strauss
Reply to  Conor
3 years ago

The trailer park is currently ugly all summer so why not make it an all year ugly spot in our downtown?

Conor
Reply to  Ken Strauss
3 years ago

It’s only ugly because you hate “out of towners”

Ken Strauss
Reply to  Conor
3 years ago

It is ugly because trailers are far less appealing than trees or beach or water or… My understanding is that the majority of the trailer park occupants are actually locals.

Informed
Reply to  Ken Strauss
3 years ago

Ive never used the trailer park but enjoy walking by and smelling a campfire. Alot better than concrete.

Ted Williams
Reply to  ben burd
3 years ago

Ben,
It’s a perfect idea. The campground is close to the Marina .
It is empty 1 week before boat haulout, It does not block any condo’s view’s
Most masts do not have to be unstepped. It is such an obvious winter storage – how was it missed?

JimT
Reply to  Ted Williams
3 years ago

By my calculation, area of boat storage = 50,000 ft² while trailer park is 3x that (some of which is roadway and trees). Seems like a no-brainer to me.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  JimT
3 years ago

The idea certainly has appeal to me. I have noticed that every summer, there are a very few boats that are not brought out of storage for whatever reason. What happens if the owner of the boat leaves it in the trailer park? If the boat is removed from the trailer park, where will it be stored, given that the ‘former’ storage area would have been repurposed?

Last edited 3 years ago by Wally Keeler
Bryan
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

Good points Wally.

There are several boats (5 or so) that are in permanent storage. They are too big to move to the old Works yard. What would be done with them?
Also, where would all of the cradles be stored?
If a boat owner has to store his boat for the summer due to some unexpected event (C19??) where would the boat be stored?

Appealing as it appears, the VPC as a boat storage area has some limitations.

Rob
Reply to  ben burd
3 years ago

I’m not entirely sure why there is a suggestion or requirement that the Town play a role in the storage of boats whatsoever. If individuals choose to participate in a nautical lifestyle, the cost and burden of boat storage should be on the participant. If you can not make the necessary arrangements or can not afford to have your boat stored privately during the offseason, you should not be in the game. I say this as someone who owned and kept my 27 ft. boat in Cobourg marina for several years.

Last edited 3 years ago by Rob
beach lover
Reply to  Rob
3 years ago

I agree completely. We also have a boat and store it elsewhere – i really don’t understand why there’s a storage area on such a valuable piece of waterfront in Cobourg. Makes no sense at all.

SW Buyer
Reply to  beach lover
3 years ago

beach lover:
What do you suggest the Town do with this valuable property…sell it to a condo developer?

Dubious
Reply to  SW Buyer
3 years ago

Why not? The tax revenue would far exceed the current boat storage charges.

Last edited 3 years ago by Dubious
Mrs. Anonymous
Reply to  Dubious
3 years ago

It’s hard to believe that any substantial development such as a condominium building would be permitted so close to the Lake Ontario Shoreline.

evelyn
Reply to  Rob
3 years ago

The cost is put on the participant! We PAY to have the boat stored there and we PAY to stay at the marina. It’s not free! We also PAY to have the boat hauled out and put in and transported to the storage compound. Everybody loves the pretty boats in the marina in the summer, but they can’t stay in the water over the winter.

Dubious
Reply to  evelyn
3 years ago

I believe that Rob’s question was why boat storage should be a concern of the town. How does your reply relate to his question regarding the necessity for town involvement?

Bryan
Reply to  Rob
3 years ago

Rob:
The Marina is a Town business unit. The Town decided the marina should offer winter boat storage as a product/service. As the “owner” of the Marina, there is no way that the Town could not be involved. The boaters choose to buy the marina’s products and services or not. Nobody is twisting their arm to do so. You wrote “…the cost and burden of boat storage should be on the participant…” That is the way it should be and is.

Rob
Reply to  Bryan
3 years ago

Thanks Bryan – as someone who was fortunate enough to have my boat in the Cobourg marina I can appreciate your comment. My point is that the service of providing boat storage is not a requirement of a Marina business unit, it is a product/service offering, and like other services it should be evaluated. If providing storage is proving problematic, overly burdensome or impedes the ability to offer other valuable services/products then it should be reviewed.

Bryan
Reply to  Rob
3 years ago

Rob:

I totally agree that the products/services offered by a business should be evaluated for the value that they bring to the business and the customers. If the product/service is “a pain in the ass” to provide, it should be discontinues or offered at a premium price.

Informed
Reply to  ben burd
3 years ago

Because they are boats.

ben burd
Reply to  Informed
3 years ago

Well that’s thinking out of the box!!!!

Informed
Reply to  ben burd
3 years ago

Sometimes the answer is simple and right in front of you 😉

Gerinator
3 years ago

From Marina/West Harbour – “lifting well to help minimize siltation…” and “lifting well/haul-out slip to accommodate a travel lift”. Proponents just aren’t letting it go are they. Let’s see: Put in a lifting well to satisfy some other requirement and then oh gosh since the money on the lifting well is ‘sunk’ cost then let’s complete the ruination of the West Beach with an upgrade to the lifting well & put in this mammoth travel lift (and the supporting infrastructure & facilities). To-date there is no singular business case presented to this community to justify this effort and expenditure. Further, because I’m very cynical about this entire adventure, I wonder how many potential alternatives were considered to “..minimize siltation..”.

Canuck Patriot
Reply to  Gerinator
3 years ago

This is Dean and one last attempt to ram through a Travel Lift that the majority of taxpayers never wanted. Hopefully with his departure, we will never hear those words again in Cobourg.

Bryan
Reply to  Gerinator
3 years ago

Gerinator:
I believe they considered two alternatives: don’t provide a lift in/out service and “the crane”. No financial business cases were presented. just a short fluffy list of pros & cons.

Frenchy
Reply to  Gerinator
3 years ago

First of all, what are you calling the “west beach? The area east or west of the west pier?
Second; I don’t think a travel lift would be the “ruination” of anything.
Third; If we get a travel lift, I’m sure it wouldn’t be a “mammoth” one.
Fourth; What “supporting infrastructure & facilities” would be needed?
If someone comes up with a good business plan for one, count me in as a supporter.

Last edited 3 years ago by Frenchy
Wally Keeler
Reply to  Frenchy
3 years ago

Why don’t you use use your unimaginative abilities and come up with a good business plan and then see who supports it.

Frenchy
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

No one would never listen to me as I have no imagination or sense of creativity as you so often point out. We hire all those consultants and have committees to come up with ideas so they don’t have to listen to my bland ideas or your psychedelic whacky ones.

Last edited 3 years ago by Frenchy
Wally Keeler
Reply to  Frenchy
3 years ago

“psychedelic” now that is quite a well wornout word from decades ago, coming from bland gland debris. What a fossil. “bland ideas” is a pathetic oxymoron. If it is bland it is not a fresh original idea. Whereas my ideas are original, not stale. I’ve seen more creativity in a cinder block than what comes out of your keyboard. C’mon Frenchy, let’s get our hate on for all to enjoy.

So back to the question. Give us your bland idea of a “good business plan” for the boat lift, if you even have a bland idea.

Last edited 3 years ago by Wally Keeler
Wally Keeler
Reply to  Frenchy
3 years ago

Matter of fact Frenchy, one of those consultation firms included one of my “psychedelic whacky ideas” in their final report. Whereas your ideas are useful for blandfill. It’s a pity that you are so blandicapped.

Last edited 3 years ago by Wally Keeler
Informed
Reply to  Frenchy
3 years ago

Haha😂

Ted Williams
Reply to  Frenchy
3 years ago

Hi Frenchy,
Good to hear you are involved in the waterfront.
For years the”town” has promised that the marina is “fully user-pay” i.e. no taxpayers money spent there.
Currently the marina owes $ 550K and the planned spending from now to 2025 is estimated at $ 2.2 million.(new docks, upgrades, travelift, boat storage)
Their current reserves are $ 475K
Annual payments for this $ 2.2 million over 15 years is $ 196K per year which is about twice their annual profit.
Staff have always promised revenue generation – not profit generation.

Bryan
Reply to  Frenchy
3 years ago

Frenchy:
You wrote “… I’m sure it wouldn’t be a “mammoth” one…”
A 35 ton travelift is made of large structural steel beams and measures about 22′ high, long and wide. Not something you can easily hide behind a bush. What size would you consider not “mammoth”?

https://loyalistcovemarina.com/marina-facilities-service/travelift/travelift-at-work/

Last edited 3 years ago by Bryan
Sandpiper
Reply to  Gerinator
3 years ago

They will have to do something to get the Boats out if they are allowed to Put in the Round about at the foot of Division and the Glamorous improvements to the Pier & Coast guard this will surely inhibit Boat lifts in this location and Maneuvering around a Round a bout ??? With Boat and large house trailers
somebody’s not thinking or are they .

Wally Keeler
3 years ago

Here is another idea: a plaque honouring Susanna Moodie, embedded on the pier when she first stepped in 1832. Naming the pier Susanna Moodie Pier, instead of the bland East Pier, It provides a point of history for Cobourgers and visitors.

JimT
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

Not the same pier, of course. They were wooden, back in those days, as I recall.
https://www.cobourghistory.ca/images/2013/cob_harbour-c1840-1500.jpg

Wally Keeler
Reply to  JimT
3 years ago

And there was no west pier and no centre pier at the time she arrived in Cobourg. So what is your point? that there should be no commemorative plaque because the pier was wooden and is gone? Or just making a fatuous point.

Wally Keeler
3 years ago

The large rocks that surround the Coast Guard House can be painted in bright colours in keeping with the playground ambiance of the beach. It will add colour and vibrancy to an otherwise grey expanse of rocks and concrete.

Wally Keeler
3 years ago

Two years ago, Lydia Smith and myself suggested the Trash to Treasure project to Town Council. Rusted out and graffiti covered trash bins populated our parks. Several ideas were presented to make the trash bins attractive. It was suggested that the Art Gallery of Northumberland and public works as well as Parks and Rec to organize a paint-in for children and students and their parents to paint trash bins on a singe day, that would later be installed in all of the parks near children’s playgrounds. We provided examples of other communities in North America that have done such projects. With all of that Parks and Rec have done virtually nothing over the past two years to this task.

The Art Gallery of Northumberland has done nothing in the public domain to involve the community in artistic creativity. Contrast with Port Hope’s Critical Mass collective of artists who manifest art experiences in the public domain for all of the community. Peterborough now has a performance art group that provides art experiences in the public domain. Cobourg, nothing. The Art Gallery of Northumberland keeps art sequestered on the third floor where the onus is on the citizen to enter the bldg to access art. Art belongs out where people live, work, shop, walk. What a radical concept.

The same for poetry. It is sequestered inside a building called a library. Poetry belongs where people live and love, engraved onto park benches.

Wally Keeler
3 years ago

There will be benches placed on the pier. Cobourg recycles trees, milling them to make benches to be placed in our parks. The back of the benches consist of two boards, the top board is thin, the second and lower board is wide enough to contain three lines of poetry. The poetry can be selected by the Poet Laureate. The poetry can be engraved by a laser. Go to the Ecology Garden and attached to the shed is a wooden matrix containing wooden leaves on which names of beneficiaries of the garden are laser etched onto the wooden leaves by students at CCI. (wow free labour)

The Poet Laureate could invite the winner of the Governor General’s Award for Poetry and or the Griffin  Prize winner to submit three lines of poetry once a year to be engraved onto a bench. It would be a long term project, say three or four benches a year. Over the years the benches would accumulate into a unique and distinctive all season anthology attraction. Let’s Talk Books could sell a small map locating all the poetry around town. It would attract literary people and lovers. It could make Cobourg, Canada’s Poem Town.

JimT
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

…or the Salmon Arm of the East, at the very least.
https://www.facebook.com/WordontheLake/

Last edited 3 years ago by JimT
Wally Keeler
Reply to  JimT
3 years ago

Cobourg’s old fogie pseudonyms would reject such an intelligent festival.

Informed
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

Now thats boring.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Informed
3 years ago

Only to the illiterate and the pseudonymous cowards afraid to take ownership of their smears with REAL names.

Informed
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

An idea can be boring to others without being considered a smear. Lighten up.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Informed
3 years ago

Aw you poor widdle pseudonym.

Informed
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

Teenagers and tourists will flock to the bench to read poems im sure. lol. Give me a break. Talk about old and boring and irrelevant. Of course this is my opinion which is as valid as yours.

Deborah Haynes OConnor
Reply to  Informed
3 years ago

Wally and I both remember when a bunch of kids (late teens and some a bit older) would congregate on summer evenings, usually on the first of the three sloping tiny hills in the Park. We’d take turns entertaining each other with songs, poems, and pleas for Revolution Now. While alcohol was seldom passed around, the sweet whiff of marijuana was often wafting through the trees.

There’s a Bob Dylan song when he recounts early memories of happy times and laments that he and his old friends can no longer return to such a simple life. I feel that way about those happy, innocent times spent in our precious Victoria Park.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Deborah Haynes OConnor
3 years ago

Informed is uninformed.

Recall Deborah, those hot summer midnights when we gathered in the benches in front of the bandshell to listen to the songwriting of Moe Ewart and other spontaneous performers. The Peterborough Examiner, headlined a feature article about the poetry and teenagers in Victoria Park — “Flower Children Blooming In Cobourg Light” Aug 14, 1967. This was followed by an Aug 19, 1967 front page article featuring — “Self-Styled Cobourg Hippies Taking Marijuana , Hashish and LSD” Poetry and music was the spin-off subject. The Cobourg Sentinel Star, May 31/67 presented a front page headline above the fold, “Story of Student Refraction”, the name of the anthology of poetry written and published by Cobourg students.

Refraction was published by Cobourg students annually and each year it made widespread regional news. Let us note several of the individual students who published in that zine, yourself Deb, also Terry Woolf who went on to win a Canadian film award for “They Look a Lot Like Us” (https://vimeo.com/179855644), and he also was nominated for an Emmy. His filmography can found here https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2014854/

The poetry anthology also included Jim Jones, now in California working for rehabs. Also Mandy Martin, the mayor of Cramahe, and James Loken, who went on to become a Queen;s Counsel at Queens Park. Poetry was a vocal art requiring good articulation and leads towards success. .

There’s a Message from Paint-In“, Sept 3/69, front page of Cobourg Sentinel Star, about Cobourg Youth painting downtown store windows with poetry and art with water colours. Even the Globe and Mail and others jumped in with Cobourg stories. It was a very vibrant community until it was swarmed with old fogies from afar with their bloated bland glands and now it is almost culturally dead.

Wally Keeler
3 years ago

Nobody has anything to say about the surfacing of the pier. Should it be covered in black asphalt? To some extent black will absorb light and warmth in the winter which will minimize snow and ice and make the pier more walkable. Or should it be that dime-a-dozen boring grey cement. Or could it be surfaced with coloured cement. Adding colour to cement is a negligible expense. Paths could be dark burgundy. Other colours for other elements or features. Oops, I forgot, this is an old fogie town where grey is the colour of the day — BORING!.

JimT
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

Don’t get discouraged, Wally: as Schopenhauer said:
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Arthur_Schopenhauer_by_J_Sch%C3%A4fer%2C_1859b.jpg/330px-Arthur_Schopenhauer_by_J_Sch%C3%A4fer%2C_1859b.jpg

Wally Keeler
Reply to  JimT
3 years ago

There are Philistines everywhere.

Rob
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

I think a mixture of grass, trees, asphalt (including coloured) and wood….adding a boardwalk beyond the pier and out to the lighthouse, would create a great selfie, marriage proposal and otherwise cool opportunity to look back on our community. The lighthouse at Presq’ile is very popular.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Rob
3 years ago

There is an example of coloured (burgundy) cement at the intersection of Third and Albert, by the LCBO. The colour serves to delineate best practice; stay inside the domineering path and you won’t get hurt. The fountain bed in Rotary Park Square is pastel coloured cement, serving to break up the monotony of bland gland grey. Coloured cement serves to 1. delineate areas of the pier, eg. a busker area, serviced by electricity, or a walking pathway, or a distinctive area for vehicles; 2. break up the overwhelming dark greyness of the pier.

Btw, every year the Rainbow crossing a King W/Second Sts has to be repainted, every year after year after year after year … Measure out to determine how many yellow bricks. red, green, blue, etc. The bricks will need to be very hard and solid thru and thru to endure heavy traffic year after year after year without repair. Build the crosswalk with the bricks placed to replicate the rainbow spectrum — no more annual painting which gets tired after three months of tire use.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Rob
3 years ago

The lighthouse here in Cobourg was also very very popular during hippie dippie daze. It has become exceedingly decrepit since then. More than sad.

Beach walker
3 years ago

It’s a trailer park. It’s an eyesore. It is on valuable land. Now our taxes will pay to upgrade the bathrooms there that are CLOSED when the trailers leave! I was recently in Perce Quebec and their waterfront park accommodates everyone. A playground, seats and benches. It is beautiful. A Federal grant is helping to pay for it. It could be Cobourg, if we had any forward thinkers on our midst! Same old argument, never gets us anywhere.

JimT
Reply to  Beach walker
3 years ago

But that kind of thing would attract penniless hordes from The Big City according to many who post here, and we don’t want that in our quiet little town, do we?

beach lover
Reply to  Beach walker
3 years ago

I agree that Quebec has done a fantastic job of enhancing the waterfront areas within its cities and towns in a way that benefits the public and local communities. Their P’Tit Train Du Nord bike trail is an example of a job well done. It’s a world-class model of how to do bike tourism well. Small inns, local restaurants, landscaped public spaces, small brew pubs, themed playgrounds – all sensitive to the cultural and historical context. Cobourg is a key community on the Waterfront Trail so bike tourism is an opportunity that’s being overlooked by focusing on RVs (and tents). Cyclists spend 6% more than other tourists and on La Route Verte spent $95.4 million in 2000. Estimates brought the impact total to $134 by 2006, which corresponds to over $38 million in government revenues and 2,861 jobs according to Velo Quebec.

Juliet Fullerton
3 years ago

Hello
Thank you to council for this posting. Why rush? Has the proper environmental assessment and covid impact as well as developmental costing been reviewed in previous years? Growth is good but at the expense and timeline of our “Feel Good Town” is this necessary now?

Phunkeemum
3 years ago

Would love to see our lighthouse be more prominent and attractive by maybe painting with wide horizontal stripes and possibly have a working light.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Phunkeemum
3 years ago

Not possible in Cobourg. The dominant old fogies like things plain, bland, and uneventful. They like Cobourg to be boring. That 30% demographic of seniors proves that Cobourg is dominated by relics.

JimT
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

How sad to confront the reality that I am no longer a sentient being, but just a “relic”.

Leweez
Reply to  JimT
3 years ago

I prefer to think of myself as an antique

evelyn
Reply to  Phunkeemum
3 years ago

The lighthouse light does work. Both red and green (port/starboard) lights function.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  evelyn
3 years ago

Just as boring and bland as every other lighthouse, just the way old fogies like it to be.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Phunkeemum
3 years ago

Better yet Phunkeemum, the lighthouse could have a grid of individually programmable leds. The lighting would provide celebrations of events, green for St Patrick’s Day, red and green for Christmas time, red and white for Canda Day, etc. The Art Gallery of Northumberland could make itself useful and select one local student each year to design a program for the lights. Those with artistic creativity could compete to develop a program for the lights — a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design could apply for a Canada Council or Ontario Arts grant to develop a program for the lights. These programs can be stored by the AGN for retrospectives.

The lighthouse at Peggy’s Cove is a national icon and it does nothing. The Cobourg lighthouse would really be a LIGHT HOUSE and an all year round attraction. It would be unique and distinctive in the world, let alone in Canada. The boating community would want to dock in Cobourg for a night or two to view the show. The lighthouse can be seen from anywhere along he length of the east beach, the west beach, all of the piers, so there will be a dispersal of people rather than a concentrated crowd at any given location.

And some wag could sell small pepper and salt shakers or vinegar bottles designed like the lighthouse. Videos of the lighthouse could go viral. The Tourism Dept doesn’t need to spend a penny to promote this because it will be promoted by cell phone captures.

Last edited 3 years ago by Wally Keeler
Frenchy
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

dumb idea.
Certain colours and sequences of flashing lights are all navigational aids. Might not want to screw with them lest we end up with a lot of shipwrecks.
It would be something like changing those boring red/amber/green traffic lights all over the world and replacing them with flashing pink/purple/orange/whatever. Let’s see what happens to traffic and safety then.

Last edited 3 years ago by Frenchy
Wally Keeler
Reply to  Frenchy
3 years ago

The traffic light analogy is as ludicrous as your abysmal lack of any imagination and creativity. There are two light houses out there, both quite effective. The lighthouse will certainly be noticeable and the navigational lights will still be operational. As Evelyn pointed out, “Both red and green (port/starboard) lights function” whatever else navigational aids are used on the Cobourg Lighthouse?

Last edited 3 years ago by Wally Keeler
Wally Keeler
Reply to  Frenchy
3 years ago

Check out the Shonan Enoshima Sea Candle lighthouse in Japan — they have no problem with decorative lighting. https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=enoshima+lighthouse&form=HDRSC2&first=1&scenario=ImageBasicHover

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Frenchy
3 years ago

Here is a well-illuminated lighthouse in Landau, Germany. https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/564357397043893282/

beach lover
3 years ago

The Victoria Park Campground consumes a 3.8-acre parcel of prime Cobourg waterfront and accommodates just 71 R/V sites and 5 tent sites. It’s only open seasonally so I really wonder how the RFP can state that “The Campground is an important economic pillar for the community that attracts thousands of visitors each year and provides countless economic benefits.” What are the countless economic benefits? This relic of the past needs to go. This eyesore needs to be replaced by something the entire community can benefit from.

SW Buyer
Reply to  beach lover
3 years ago

beach lover:
Each season, the VPC generates $125-175K in profit for the Town. About half of the “campers” are Cobourgers. The campers shop locally during their stay.

What is (are) the “something” that you suggest could replace the VPC and benefit the entire community

Wally Keeler
Reply to  SW Buyer
3 years ago

seems that beach lover doesn’t have the imagination to answer your question.

beach lover
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

Since the 1980s, there have been thousands of models of inspiring waterfront revitalization plans that have improved neighourhoods and communities.I can’t think of any that feature seasonal trailers with lawn chairs at the heart of their design.

In general, single-use development along a water’s edge (such as a campground) limits economic potential and community access rather than enhances it.

For successful models, just take a look at Granville Island, the San Antonio River Walk, Navy Pier in Chicago – they’ve all integrated public spaces with ecology and landscape design to incorporate dining, boutique hotel, shopping, arts, natural features and cultural experiences in imaginative ways.

Given the substantial size and prime location of the parcel of land, the city of Cobourg could earn much more than $175k in profit annually PLUS create a vibrant publicly accessible waterfront that generated income for other businesses if it thought beyond investing more public money in an antiquated campground model which is quite frankly an eyesore.

Sandpiper
Reply to  beach lover
3 years ago

At least these people / Tourists shop Local !

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Sandpiper
3 years ago

A large proportion of campers are local and buy local anyway, so their money is not above and beyond. Tourist campers bring their own food supplies

Paul
Reply to  beach lover
3 years ago

Beach Lover … Good for you. Let’s move that relic over to the old Cobourg West football field. We can recoup that cost by putting in a Casino with a few pubs or shops and generate a little cash for the community. Peterborough and Gananoque love the tax dollars their casinos generate. It will provide a good vantage point for the lightening rod that someone has suggested for the break water as they BBQ a few Osprey. This community needs a little forward thinking rather than the old fuddie duddie NIMBY thoughts that are often written in this site.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Paul
3 years ago

Here is the massive Gananoque Casino that Paul recommends for the trailer park in Cobourg. It’s got lots of flashy neon — talk about disco docks. http://www.onlinecasinoarchives.ca/wp-content/uploads/Gananoque-Casino-Could-Face-US-Competition_mini.jpg

SW Buyer
Reply to  Paul
3 years ago

Perhaps also a strip club, “adult” store and community cop shop, just to keep everything in hand.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  beach lover
3 years ago

This eyesore needs to be replaced by something the entire community can benefit from”

And what do you suggest should replace it. Step up to the plate with your imaginative suggestion.

Informed
Reply to  beach lover
3 years ago

An adult fitness park?🥴

Beach walker
Reply to  beach lover
3 years ago

Be careful. You mention that you want to get rid of the trailer park and you will be labeled “an elitist” in this town. I know, it happened to me.

ben burd
Reply to  beach lover
3 years ago

This eyesore needs to be replaced by something the entire community can benefit from.

Such as?

Wally Keeler
Reply to  ben burd
3 years ago

Pseudo beach lover doesn’t have an answer other than “something” which is nothing at all.

beach lover
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

There’s no shortage of creative ideas around the world. However, given Cobourg has no downtown accommodation (excluding the novelty King George Inn and seasonal Breakers), a boutique-sized inn with dining and public space would be a good fit and generate substantially more income and spin-off benefits than a trailer park. The Drake Devonshire in Wellington is an example of a type of property that would attract high-spend visitors to Cobourg and also provide special occasion space for locals, something that’s missing with the loss of the Woodlawn Inn. The architecturally interesting buildings (now home to Harbourfront Delights ice-cream shop etc) adjacent to the campground could be incorporated into the design and would complement La Cucina Urbana and Craft.

Conor
Reply to  beach lover
3 years ago

How about just paving it over and replace it with a parking lot so you can rip off “out of towners” You know those horrible beach tourists who don’t spend money locally. Leave the campground alone, it’s been there for years.

Grumpy Today
3 years ago

Three comments (all negative since that’s the mood I’m in this morning). First, close the money taps until the pandemic is over and the Town’s finances get sorted out. Second, move the unsightly boat storage compound away from the waterfront. While it may be convenient there for the boat owners, it is a blight on what could be a beautiful part of Cobourg’s waterfront. Finally, get a sharp stake and drive it through the heart of the next person to raise the issue of using taxpayers’ money to finance a boat lift for the small number of residents who own the boats!

Old Sailor
Reply to  Grumpy Today
3 years ago

Grumpy Today, why not just close the Marina, remove the docks and let the weeds in the harbour be our summer time view. Then we would never have to look at those darned boats again. The boats stored in the compound are 10,000 pounds plus. They just can’t be put in shopping carts and pulled away to some mystical location for the winter. In my view the Town should fill all the current slips, not just 60%, with seasonal boats and double the boat storage area by expanding it to the north. Run the business like a real marina profit centre, like the town owned Port Whitby Marina.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Old Sailor
3 years ago

“...the Town should fill all the current slips

What suggestions do you have to accomplish that?

Last edited 3 years ago by Wally Keeler
Just Wondering
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

Not sure what the current situation is but previously there was a waiting list for boat owners wanting a slip.

Paul Pagnuelo
Reply to  Just Wondering
3 years ago

A good place to start would be to create a new current list. I have always maintained that residents should be given first choice when filling vacancies. Living in Cobourg should have its privileges.

This issue has been debated but no attempt has ever been made to prove or disprove the pros vs. the cons. 2021 would be a good time for a trial run.

jimq
Reply to  Paul Pagnuelo
3 years ago

Locals have always had the advantage of getting a slip over non locals. Nothing has changed. Many boat owners decided not to launch this year because of COVID, hence the numerous empty slips.

Downtowner
Reply to  Grumpy Today
3 years ago

Could the boat storage not be moved to the old Cobourg West sports field?

Bryan
Reply to  Downtowner
3 years ago

It could.
What price do you think the owner (school board) would charge for the property?
How many years would it take to earn this from winter boat storage fees?

Paul
Reply to  Bryan
3 years ago

If the space at the “trailer park” was sold and developed appropriately it would pay back in a very short period. The cost of the football field would be a non issue. .

Bryan
Reply to  Paul
3 years ago

Paul:
I take it that your suggested solution is to move the VPC to the football field next to Legion Village and sell the VPC to a condo developer. For that to happen, the Town would have to buy the field from the school board, assuming they’re willing to sell. The cost of the two properties are likely the same (or close), so how would doing this benefit most (all) Cobourgers?

Downtowner’s question that I commented on was could the boat storage be moved to the football field. The answer is yes, if the Town is able to buy it. Clearly, if the football field is used for boat storage, it can’t be used for as a campground.
If that’s the case, are you suggesting that the campground should be closed rather than moved?

Last edited 3 years ago by Bryan
Wally Keeler
Reply to  Paul
3 years ago

“developed appropriately”

Generic nothing words — what idea, if you have one, would be appropriate?

JimT
Reply to  Downtowner
3 years ago

You could put about 4 of the boat storage area in where the sports field is now, or just move it there and have lots of room left over.
Coincidentally, the camp ground at V.P. and the sports field on Durham are almost exactly the same size: ±150,000 ft²

Last edited 3 years ago by JimT
evelyn
Reply to  Grumpy Today
3 years ago

The boats are stored at the waterfront as they are too large to move through town. Most towns that have marinas have boat storage. Check out the Town of Whitby marina. Second, the boat lift would be self financing. Getting your boat lifted out of the water has NEVER been FREE at any marina. There would be a charge for each boat getting lifted out which would cover the costs of the travel lift much in the same way that hockey teams are charged for ice time in the CCC. (if you want to discuss using taxpayers money to finance something a small number of residents use)

Paul
Reply to  evelyn
3 years ago

The football field could be a trailer park in the summer and boat storage area in the winter. It wouldn’t be difficult to gain access. Or we could be having these discussions again in 10 years.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Paul
3 years ago

Did you consult the homeowners that surround that former football field or you just assume they would enjoy the sight of boat storage on the other side of their residence fence. And the neighbours would also enjoy a field of trailers and campfires and big RVs and trailers going in and out on residential streets, and the street would have to be upgraded to handle the heavy traffic.

Cobourg taxpayer
3 years ago

Am I missing something here??? We are in the middle of pandemic, many private sector employees are not working (note public sector are, sort of ), many private businesses will not survive the winter and council has no idea what the budget is so they issue an RFP to be rushed through before Christmas including public meetings and work is to be completed by summer 2021?!! What planet are these people from that they think it is business as usual? It is not. They have no idea how many taxpayers will be in arrears along with many other unknowns. Oh wait a minute was one of Dean’s applications for a massive grant successful and the money has to spent by the end of the year??!! Likely something from Trudeau who can’t spend our tax money fast enough.

Informed
Reply to  Cobourg taxpayer
3 years ago

Status quo will save us Millions. Lets get through the pandemic and in a few years we can see the dust settle.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Informed
3 years ago

When the dust settles, your dream come true — a blandscape of boring proportions

Informed
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

How did you enjoy the beach this summer?

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Informed
3 years ago

Boring, just the way old folks like things to be.

Wally Keeler
3 years ago

Enhancing the Centre Pier as a publicly accessible waterfront amenity/space and assessing the feasibility of extending power and water to the west side of the Pier

The centre pier can become a centrepiece of the harbour by the use of underwater, individually programmable, led light strips around the perimeter of the pier. The casual and mild waves of the water will cast shimmering colours onto the walls of the pier. Programmable leds provide the opportunity of the Art Gallery of Northumberland vetting a local artist (student) to produce a creative light show. It would be a distinctive and unique feature of Cobourg’s harbour. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EiiCXD2KSA

Frenchy
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

Disco Dock?

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Frenchy
3 years ago

Cobourg prefers boredom, old fogie boredom.

Last edited 3 years ago by Wally Keeler
Paul
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

Yeah and watch your taxes go up as well.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Paul
3 years ago

Hardly. A single strip of leds around the perimeter is in terms of hundreds of dollars, not thousands. Whereas your idea of stuffing trailers in an unserviced field in a residential neighbourhood would cost a fortune. Your idea to store lots of boats will require an upgrade on the streets leading to the field so that the boats will have safe passage. And of course there will have to be lighting to protect the boats and I doubt that the neighbours will like that. All of that will increase the tax load.

Sandpiper
Reply to  Frenchy
3 years ago

yes in your front Yard may be a couple of those phoney palm trees would help

JimT
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

But Wally, that would just attract out-of-towners to that area down there, and we already know they never spend any money while they are here – they just clog up our public byways with their presence.
Mustn’t propose anything that would make our town more attractive and draw unwanted attention.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  JimT
3 years ago

Okay, keep the town like a boring wall flower and as unimaginative as your comments.

cornbread
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

Put your money, if any where your ideas are.

Jones
Reply to  cornbread
3 years ago

Boaters and campers are putting their money where their mouth is

Wally Keeler
Reply to  cornbread
3 years ago

I have and I will.

Ken Strauss
3 years ago

I’m aghast at the many errors and and unclear specifications in this tender. For a few examples: 

  • “The 500 square foot Administration Building”
  • What is meant by specifications such as “dock and launch ramp for smaller, non-motorized craft that accommodates universal/accessible access” Does this need to accommodate paddle boards? Small sailboats? How large is “smaller”? Does “accessible” mean by wheelchair or…?
  • What size of boats should be accommodated in the lifting well/haul out slip?

Who (does anyone?) review tender documents to correct errors and ensure clear and unambiguous specifications?

Doug Weldon
Reply to  Ken Strauss
3 years ago

Doesn’t the existing boat ramp accommodate the launch of small boats? Looks fine to me.

Ken Strauss
Reply to  Doug Weldon
3 years ago

But is the existing boat ramp “accessible”? I assume that we have hundreds of boaters who can’t launch without special facilities.

Wally Keeler
3 years ago

Enhancing wildlife viewing opportunities, particularly for observing migratory birds in the harbour”

Around the perimeter of Rice Lake there are utility poles on top of which are platforms designed for an Osprey nest. It would be good to erect a tall steel pole on the West Pier past the elbow for such a nest. (The steel pole will also provide an ice sculpture at that location where ice builds up after every winter storm.) The Osprey consumes only fish and is no threat to children or pets. It will be magnificent to view this raptor as it dives for prey and returns to the nest to feed the young ones.

JimT
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

And no doubt it would precipitate spectacular lightning strikes on stormy days that would attract photographers from miles around.

Dubious
Reply to  JimT
3 years ago

Good point JimT. Is BBQ Osprey tasty?

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Dubious
3 years ago

The pole is metal, the platform is wood. Since when does wood conduct electricity?

Fact Checker
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

Guess you forgot to tell lightning before it strikes a tall tree

Last edited 3 years ago by Fact Checker
Dubious
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

Hmmm! Wooden platform sits on metal pole. Osprey sits on wood a few inches above the metal pole and closer to the sky. I smell BBQ.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Dubious
3 years ago

Easy solution, Put in two or three 10 foot rebars one inch thick into the breakwater. They will attract the lightning and the rebars will produce magnificent ice sculptures during the winter months, sculpted by the forces of nature.

Interesting that the multiple utility poles with platforms all around Rice Lake do not seem to get struck by lighting. But then again, one is more likely to win a lottery than get struck by lightning.

Frenchy
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

Aren’t lightning rods put at the highest point of the surrounding area. Do you propose we build these osprey nests below those 10ft rebars? The nest in Bayfield that you referred to is 60 ft high.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Frenchy
3 years ago

The overall point is that the threat of a lightning strike is exceedingly rare. There is more chance of winning a lottery than lightning hitting an Osprey nest. Nothing to get your pseudonymous panties in a bunch.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  JimT
3 years ago

The pole is metal, the platform is wood. Since when does wood conduct electricity?

Fact Checker
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

Wally:
I’m quite sure that JimT got the message that you sent to Dubious. No need to repeat yourself.

Informed
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

When its wet

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Informed
3 years ago

Interesting that all the utility poles with Osprey platforms around Rice Lake don’t get struck by lightning, even when wet. Hmmm?

Last edited 3 years ago by Wally Keeler
Informed
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

I simply answered your question with the correct answer.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Informed
3 years ago

But your so-called correct answer doesn’t affect any of the multiple utility poles around Rice Lake that hold Osprey nest platforms. Your specious concern is bloated.

Informed
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

Im not concerned and yes im a little bloated this morning.
You said,” Since when does wood conduct electricity?” I said,” When its wet.”
You could have responded,” Im sure we can find a solution as I did not realize that wood conducts electricity when wet”

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Informed
3 years ago

The likelihood that Osprey nests get struck by lightning is less than a human winning a lottery. There are Osprey nests on platforms high above other structures and hey have lasted for years and years and years and never get struck by lightning. It’s a rare occurrence, nothing to get your shorts in a bloated bunch.

Frenchy
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

Are you sure they don’t get struck by lightning? They do elsewhere. Try searching for that Mr. Google.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Frenchy
3 years ago

Ospreys being struck by lightning is rarer than winning the lottery. https://london.ctvnews.ca/ospreys-get-community-built-nest-in-bayfield-ont-1.5034683

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Frenchy
3 years ago

Two birds were seen on or by the nest platform at Seymour conservation area on 14 September 2008. Ospreys nest each year along the Trent waterway, often favouring nesting platforms maintained for them atop utility poles. There are several of these nest sites in and near Campbellford, with nearby examples on Trent Island and in Ferris provincial park, both on the south side of the town. http://www.turnstone.ca/osprey.htm

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Frenchy
3 years ago

The nest atop a 60 foot pole was erected by Hydro One crews on land owned by the Huron Tract Land Trust Conservancy on the Bayfield River Flats, near the new bridge at the north end of Bayfield.
“We really investigated where to place it, how to place it and those experts we talked to said it’s pretty easy, just pick a bare spot along the river where there’s no trees and make sure you’re the highest spot, because they really like to sit and watch everything and have a sort of commanding view of the river,” said Conservancy Chair Roger Lewington. https://blackburnnews.com/midwestern-ontario/midwestern-ontario-news/2020/07/15/supporting-osprey-near-bayfield/

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Frenchy
3 years ago

The pair have bred together since 2013 and have raised 14 youngsters who have migrated. It will be the 11th year that ospreys have bred at Kielder, where last year there were five occupied nests. A total of 58 fledged youngsters have been produced in that time. https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/first-four-ospreys-arrive-back-16070675 All those years and not struck by lightning.

Frenchy
Reply to  Wally Keeler
3 years ago

Anecdotal evidence at best.
You’ve never been struck by lightning. Does that mean that no one ever gets struck by lightning?

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Frenchy
3 years ago

Osprey nests all over the country never get struck by lightning even though they are on 60′ poles, higher than the surrounding area. I’d rather take the anecdotal word of Conservancy Chair Roger Lewington, than a faceless pseudonym with no credentials to speak of in the field.

Last edited 3 years ago by Wally Keeler