City moves forward with no access to water at Sandpoint Beach

Fencing going up to block all access to Sandpoint Beach. CTV Windsor’s Bob Bellacicco explains.

Fence posts were hammered into the ground Tuesday morning.

“I never thought, and those big posts,” said a startled Pam Morley Cooke as she spent time at Sandpoint Beach with her grandson. “The post they’re putting in, scaring him (grandson) so we have to leave.”

Morley Cooke was at the beach when workers started installing fence posts. “It’s really sad to see that going, but they have to do something to keep people safe right now. But there’s other solutions to this, and they didn’t look at that,” said Morley Cooke, who feels the city could have acted years ago.

City Councillor Angelo Marignani dropped in to see what was going on. “What we’re really missing here is the quality of life that we kind of gave up to our residents,” Marignani said. “What we’re missing here is the investment, the development, the tourism.”

A 15-year-old drowned in May. Two men in their 20’s fell victim in the same area in 2024.

The issue is the dangerous current. The Windsor Port Authority estimates the current flow pushes downward at 10-15 km per hour.

Just up the shore at Stop 26, the Port Authority estimates the current is half the speed with no under tow for at least a couple of hundred metres straight in from that beach area.

That is why Marignani feels the beach should be moved. “We know this information. We can engineer it so that it is safe. We could do our best as a city, and we can make this area, this park, a gem that it should be carrying.”

City officials say Stop 26 will remain open for kayaks and canoes, but there will be signs discouraging swimming in the river.

“There’s nothing to stop a swimmer once they enter that area of traveling west and finding ourselves in the same situation that previous swimmers have, where there’s been a tragedy,” said Michael Chantler, commissioner of community services.

Installation of the fencing is expected to be completed on Wednesday. Lifeguards will remain on site until the end of the week. “They’re going to continue that process of educating the public as they arrive to the beach and let them know that they can enjoy the sand, enjoy the park,” Chantler told CTV News.

He’s hopeful residents don’t decide to hop the fence. “They’re taking their lives into their own hands if they do that, and all we can do is educate them that they should make the choice not to enter the water.”

Marignani hopes the fencing is a quick temporary solution, but the embattled beach is at the mercy of a coroner’s inquest into the latest drowning. The timing of a report is unknown.