Innisfil Council, in a virtual meeting earlier this week, approved measures that will increase set fines for parking infractions to $150 within a kilometre of the lakeshore, make it easier to tow vehicles that block traffic or create a traffic hazard, and slap a $750 fine on anyone who disobeys a closure notice.
But Coun. Kevin Eisses’ recommendation, that Innisfil Beach Park be fenced off to restrict access, was not approved.
“Obviously, in a pandemic, it’s the health and safety of our residents” that is the primary goal, Eisses said, introducing his proposal. “We’re spending a lot of resources to do it, and it’s not sustainable.”
He wanted the town to install fencing "parallel to the waterfront" at Innisfil Beach Park, to help control access “and possibly free up some human resources that could be used for other areas of Innisfil, like road ends.”
“What kind of fence were you thinking of – barbed wire, or electric?” asked Coun. Bill Van Berkel.
“Not a wall, not barbed wire,” said Eisses. “We just want a five-foot fence, so people, when they have their lawn chairs and coolers, they’re not going to try to scale it.”
He called the fencing "just a tool that helps staff control flow easier," and suggested it could be put in place for "high volume weekends" only.
The intent is to discourage out-of-town visitors and make parks and facilities 'residents only', he said.
“We’re doing everything we can to keep them out. Why don’t we just be obvious with this and say hey, during a pandemic this is residents only. This is the way it is.”
Coun. Rob Nicol questioned what areas would be fenced, how close to the water the fencing would be located, the cost and the impact.
Eisses reiterated that it would be a “pilot project,” and suggested the details should be left up to the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) group, noting that the whole park is “only 75 acres.”
Coun. Donna Orsatti pointed to the high cost of fencing, from her own experience as a volunteer with Innisfil Community Events Corp. and Summerfest.
“It’s a great expense, and who’s going to staff it, to determine who’s going into that area?” she asked.
Orsatti also warned that fencing Innisfil Beach Park would likely push even more people to use the smaller beaches and road ends, creating additional problems.
"We're going to push all out-of-towners to the smaller beaches, the 9th Line, the 10th Line, Leonard's, Big Bay Point, 30 Sidroad... and points south... To me, I think that this puts our residents at more risk.”
Coun. Alex Waters called it “quite an expensive temporary measure,” and questioned the need, since the measures put in place over the July 4-5 weekend "seem to have worked. If what we have is working, why are we going one step further with a very expensive fence?"
Waters suggested that if there is a pilot project, the area to be fenced should be one of the smaller beaches, such as 10th Line.
Manager of Operations Jason Inwood, said the "very preliminary estimates" of the cost of temporary fencing ranged from $6,000 to $20,000 for the installation, and $500 to $1,600 per month for the rental.
Coun. Eisses argued that while staff handled the situation well last weekend, "we're aready hearing it's not sustainable from a human capital point of view." In the long term, and looking at the cost of human resourced, he suggested "the costs we are talking about for a fence are reasonable."
Coun. Nicol said a more appropriate fence would be chain link fencing, at a cost of $120,000. He also pointed out that the proposal for fencing has never been presented to the Innisfil Beach Park Ad Hoc Committee.
Coun. Ken Fowler tried to propose a compromise, asking if Eisses would be willing to introduce a fencing pilot project at one of the smaller beaches, “where we can test it on a smaller scale” - leaving it up to the EOC to determine the most appropriate location.
Eisses refused. The goal of his proposal, he said, was to divert staff from Innisfil Beach Park, not to create another area requiring additional monitoring.
In a recorded vote, Coun. Eisses, Bill Van Berkel, and Ken Fowler voted in favour. Opposed were Coun. Donna Orsatti, Rob Nicol, Alex Waters, Deputy Mayor Dan Davidson, and Mayor Lynn Dollin. Coun. Carolyn Payne was absent.
Chief Administrative Officer Jason Reynar pointed out that the Emergency Operations Centre’s emergency control group already has the authority to recommend fencing, if it is seen as necessary, "in the same way we'd have the authority to fence off an area in a rail derailment."
Mayor Dollin also noted that this past weekend, approximately 1,200 non-resident vehicles were turned away from Innisfil Beach Park, but 1,700 resident vehicles were allowed in – an “unprecedented” level of local use on a weekend, and a sign that the measures taken so far are working.
"Every person that gets their car towed tells 10 people," said the mayor, adding that every week the number of out-of-town visitors is "less and less," as the message gets out.
