A long-time Okanagan Centre resident and a district councillor say the Okanagan Safe Harbour in Lake Country is poorly designed and inefficient.
Richard Gibbons has been a resident of Lake Country for 65 years.
He said the safe harbour is primarily being used as a boat launch and is completely ineffective as a safe harbour.
Boaters are unable to moor their boats aside from using the shore during a storm, due to the waves breaking through the safe harbour鈥檚 opening near the dock, he said, adding boaters are also unable to tie boats to the breakwater as it鈥檚 too high and has railings.
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鈥淭hen what do you have to do, you have to climb over a fence?鈥� Gibbons said, gesturing toward the breakwater.
Parking is another significant issue. Vehicles will often have to park in the wrong direction, and boaters are left waiting for a long period of time as only one boat can launch at a time, he said.
The safe harbour lies under the Regional District of Central Okanagan鈥檚 jurisdiction and was taken over from the federal government in 1996. Prior to that, it was wooden, with rotting wood, said Bruce Smith, regional district communications officer.
鈥淲hat they have done, is take a useful breakwater 鈥� it鈥檚 able to break waves, but for whom? No boats can really use the area and in terms of launching, they could have made it much more user-friendly,鈥� Gibbons said. The number of boaters launching large boats has also increased, he said.
Milfoil at the launch is also a problem.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all over the surface鈥� this entire basin is filled with milfoil,鈥� he said, adding the milfoil is spreading in the area because the district hasn鈥檛 cleaned it up. Milfoil is an invasive species that .
There鈥檚 a lack of any kind of maintenance, he said.
Okanagan Centre Coun. Blair Ireland agrees that the safe harbour doesn鈥檛 function as it was intended.
鈥淲hen they rebuilt it they structured it so that it鈥檚 not a safe harbour, it鈥檚 a boat launch with a breakwater. It鈥檚 not a safe harbour, there鈥檚 no way to moor a boat unless you run it up on the beach,鈥� he said.
鈥淓very Saturday morning, Sunday, there鈥檚 almost fights down there because it just doesn鈥檛 work,鈥� he said.
Ireland suggested building a floating dock, which can move up and down to help those with mobility issues.
鈥淟ake Country has no say. I鈥檝e tried to encourage us to possibly take it over because we get all the flack,鈥� Ireland said.
鈥淚n the old days, you could have had six or seven boats at the same time,鈥� he said.
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Smith said the safe harbour was never meant for long-term mooring, and there鈥檚 no room for it to grow because of its location.
鈥淭here鈥檚 really no room to grow because it鈥檚 right beside the road. It鈥檚 right on the shoreline鈥�. and there are no plans for anything further,鈥� Smith said.
He said remediation work will soon begin to restore it to its pre-floods state, and Lake Country staff and council were involved in the original restoration period.
Smith said the regional district is open to having discussions with the District of Lake Country.
鈥淲e鈥檝e always tried to be inclusive,鈥� he said.
carli.berry@kelownacapnews.com
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