Dear Editor,
Re: Man-made beaches in Sylvan Lake (RD Advocate, July 10)
Upon reading this article in The Advocate I was angered and very concerned that $25,000 of taxpayer money was spent on a man-made beach.
This beach is on provincial property and the province would not pay for it.
Councillor Dale Plante would like to see this program extended to the estimated cost of $500,000.
We, the taxpayers, are faced with an ongoing, crushing debt to maintain the new Lakeshore Drive for years and years to come.
The $22 million spent on construction so far will be insignificant compared to the cost of maintaining this one mile of beach front.
The yearly cost of labour, utilities for lights, flowers, repairs to damaged property, etc. will continue to rise.
From main street east to the end of Lakeshore Drive there are 225 street lights in this mile. 175 of the lights go from 46th Street to the east end of Lakeshore. This area of beach front is used for four months of the year. The rest of the year it is virtually empty. What a waste of power and more important money.
Also in the same area the largest percentage of users do not spend any money in town businesses. They bring everything that they need for the day. All that is left is a mess to clean up. Short of charging for parking, there is no way to recover any money for maintenance from this beach area.
Earlier this year Mayor Samson and three councillors voted for a $60,000 ‘study’ on how to attract more tourists. In the first place all we need is a sandy beach and people will come. However in the second place we do not have parking for the ones that come now!
Because of the brilliant design of the new Lakeshore, the east half mile has no parking whatsoever. I think the $60,000 was another waste of money.
A suggestion for Dale Plante. Spend the $500,000 cleaning out Sylvan Creek so it flows like it did originally, and we will have one mile of the best beach in all of Alberta. Just like the lakeshore was before the Department of Transportation (DOT) rerouted Sylvan Creek when they rebuilt Highway 20.
DOT removed a large bridge and replaced it with two 36” culverts. What an astounding engineering accomplishment.
One final note on street lights. On 50th Avenue from main street east for one mile there are 24 street lights that are needed 12 months of a year. A very busy road that needs more lights.
Last of all, when you consider how we are begging and pleading to raise money for a new arena, curling rink, urgent care facility, etc., I for one do no want to spend another dime on manmade beaches.
Are there any other citizens in town that have the same feeling?
Dale Mannix,
Sylvan Lake