Tag: Waterfront

Waterfront Festival is Back

John Draper

The last Festival was in 2019 but the Festivals for the next two years were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  Like a lot of activities that are resuming, the Festival may be less exuberant than previous Festivals because some people are still reluctant to venture out.  This includes vendors – judging by the pleas coming from the Lions for vendors, there will likely be fewer participants.  With no sales for 2 years, it’s likely that some vendors are out of business. But the Entertainment has been booked (program below), a Midway is promised, the beer tent is organized and the Rotary Tent planned. The three day event on the Canada Day long weekend is jointly run by the Lions and… Read complete articleWaterfront Festival is Back

Delegations Point to Parking By-Law problems

John Draper

The new Parking By-Law is already causing problems for residents of the “East Beach Waterfront Area” – they are now in an area where parking is paid for in the beach season albeit with special arrangements for residents.  At the May 30 Committee of the whole Council meeting, there were two (related) delegations asking for exceptions. The problem that Caryn and David MacDiarmid have is that they are expecting “50-60 people in our backyard for our daughter Leigha’s graduation with her University Master’s degree” on June 4.  That means about 20 cars will need parking nearby.  If the event were after 4:00 pm it would not be a problem since restrictions end at 4:00 – but the event is at… Read complete articleDelegations Point to Parking By-Law problems

Major Changes in Parking By-Law

John Draper

Cobourg Council are on the way to approving major changes in parking across the Town.  There are major fee increases at the area near the waterfront and smaller ones downtown. But there are also changes that affect residential streets which will empower by-law enforcement and Police to act on complaints by residents on what I would call nuisance parking. These changes have been discussed for some time – mostly in connection with problems with parking by visitors to the Beach. The public were consulted, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee were consulted and Staff did considerable work coming up with the changes. At the Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday May 9, a draft by-law was approved and is expected to get… Read complete articleMajor Changes in Parking By-Law

West Headland Recommendations

John Draper

Since 2017 there have been heated discussions in Cobourg about the West Headland – probably now to be called Waterfront Nature Park. It got mixed up with unpopular plans to expand the Marina into the West Harbour and it’s a natural separation for the natural West Beach. It started with a concern that its official name – Langevin Pier – was no longer acceptable (dare I say not “woke”?).  See the Resources below for more but the short version is that Langevin was an advocate for the residential school system.  But what to name it instead?  Alderville Chief Mowat was not concerned so eventually the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee (PRAC) were asked to decide.  Along the way, there was… Read complete articleWest Headland Recommendations

Food Trucks planned to replace Canteen in 2022

John Draper

One of the changes planned for Cobourg’s Victoria Park Beach is to “re-purpose” the Canteen/ Washroom building by closing the Canteen and expanding the washrooms.  For many years, the canteen was run by the same contractor but then in 2018 and 2019, the owners of Market and Smor had a try at providing the service.  They wanted to offer healthy food – but that did not fly (it appears).  They also had a friend operate a chip truck there. In the end they gave up just as the pandemic arrived.  After the comprehensive review of how to manage the Waterfront, Council decided that instead of a Canteen, food trucks would instead provide the service.  An RFP was issued early 2022… Read complete articleFood Trucks planned to replace Canteen in 2022

Update on Cobourg’s Beach

John Draper

During the past year or so, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee (PRAC) and Council have come up with plans for Cobourg’s Beach.  Covid-19 meant that crowding was a problem so access to the beach was limited and it was even closed for a while.  At the next meeting of the PRAC on April 5, the agenda includes a spreadsheet that lists the “recommendations (provided) for council’s consideration”.  Many of the recommendations have been implemented – but not all, or if they have, they have not been made public.  The agenda item has Teresa Behan’s name on it – she is Manager of Recreation and Waterfront Operations.  The “recommendations” cover Communications, Amenities, Bylaws and enforcement, Events, Safety, Parking and more. … Read complete articleUpdate on Cobourg’s Beach

Harbour Update

John Draper

It’s somewhat confusing but there are two major Harbour projects being discussed at Council and they both get mentioned at next week’s CoW meeting.  The first is fixing the harbour walls and breakwaters for a total of $12.8M and the second is rehabilitation of the East Pier (budget estimate for 2024 is $3.6M) – that is, to make it an attractive place.  Work on the East Pier rehabilitation cannot start until at least the harbour walls and East Breakwater work is done.  The two consultants involved are making presentations:  Shoreplan is providing a walls and breakwaters project update which is essentially the same as provided in the Engage Cobourg Survey information and reported here on 29 January – see link… Read complete articleHarbour Update

Town Issues RFP for Campground Upgrade Design

John Draper

In 2018, Council approved a Waterfront Study that included recommended upgrades to the Trailer Park – now called the Campground.  The approved 2022 budget includes $50K for this study; the estimated cost of doing the work in 2023 is $750K. The justification given in the RFP is that:  “This design plan is necessary to update failing aged infrastructure and transform the campground back into (an) asset that can provide the requirements of current guests while continuing to remain a viable tourism destination and economic engine to the municipality.”  The RFP says that: “The campground currently consists of 43 trailer sites with Hydro, Water and Sewer, 28 trailer sites with Hydro and Water and 5 unserved tent sites.”  The  Request for… Read complete articleTown Issues RFP for Campground Upgrade Design