Jim Boyd is seeing one cottage home after another surrounded by hundreds of feet of water
He’s concerned about the condition of ice, specifically around docks in the Port Carling area. Boyd is calling it a tragedy waiting to happen.
“We had an incident, the dog fell in, the owner fell in and his neighbour rescued him,” says Boyd, director of the Muskoka Ratepayers’ Association.
Boyd is blaming the improper use of dock bubbler and ice away systems around lake front cottages. The systems, he says, are using propeller motors 24/7. As a result, ice water is being pushed away from the dock, preventing it from freezing solid.
Provincial police are warning owners and property managers to make sure they post signs, flags and barriers near their docks.
“They could be charged criminally for failing to mark an opening in the water that they have created,” says OPP Sgt. Steven Mihills
In many cases, the dock systems push ice 20 times further than it should.
“It's very disconcerting from the standpoint of the risk factor for residents and people who come up here from the city and don’t know how to handle the situation,” says Brock Napier, a cottage owner.
Napier built his own system for a few thousand dollars, protecting his dock for 15 feet.
Later this month, there's an emergency meeting being called at the town offices in Bracebridge with district mayors.
Those concerned with the improper use of the bubblers will push for safety and accountability out on our waterways.
