The City of Salmon Arm is ready to dive into upgrading the Canoe wharf, but must wait for its window of opportunity.
Canoe resident Sue Kershaw and other residents of Canoe came to city council’s May 24 meeting to ask when the dilapidated Canoe wharf pilings will be replaced and the remaining dock space refilled with new docks.
She said two or three years ago the city removed the three old docks due to rot and left one new dock in their place. During the last two summers, there’s been minimal space for swimmers, fishers and boaters to coexist safely. This winter, one of the old piles collapsed and now it is a safety hazard, especially for swimmers who will be tempted to stand on it,” she wrote.
Rob Niewenhuizen, the city’s director of engineering and public works, outlined the issues.
He said a new dock was installed, but the piling is failing. The dock came loose and had to be removed.
Also, during Covid, submissions and approval processes were very slow, he said.
“We missed all our opportunities to do any work last year.”
However, the second part of the dock is now being constructed and the provincial fish window when the city is allowed to go in and replace the pilings is from July 22 to Aug. 1. Once the pilings are replaced, a total of three docks will be in place.
Niewenhuizen said the city just needs to find a contractor available to put in the pilings.
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In the meantime, Kershaw suggested the city remove the piling lying in the water.
“I see kids thinking that that will be a wonderful thing to stand on and I think there’s a safety issue there,” she said.
Niewenhuizen said the city can’t move pilings until the provincial window as it will be cited. He said staff can go investigate; perhaps it can be tied down.
“We waited almost two years for approvals for that as well as the docks being replaced at the (Salmon Arm) marina. During Covid, things really slowed down, that’s nothing on the federal or provincial government, it was just across the board. The other biggest issue was supply issues. Even if we had permission to put the piles in, we didn’t have the material to replace the dock because that just came in recently. Everything is slow right now. Normally we would have that done fairly quickly,” Niewenhuizen said.
Coun. Louise Wallace Richmond asked staff if there are any issues outstanding that would be worth requesting assistance from the provincial minister during the September Union of BC Municipalities convention.
Niewenhuizen said no, the approvals are in and the city is further ahead than it was last time.
Mayor Alan Harrison addressed Wallace Richmond, who lives in Canoe.
“You’ll be cutting a ribbon in early August, so be ready,” he smiled.
martha.wickett@saobserver.net
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