There are a lot of very angry boat owners, upset that the city of Sarnia picked the first long holiday weekend of the season to close the new boat launch in Centennial Park.
City hall issued a news release Friday afternoon, saying the launch would be closed to allow for grading the parking lot to prepare for paving which is supposed to begin Tuesday, May 22 and take two days to complete.
Mayor Mike Bradley was as surprised as anyone else by the timing.
"As the mayor of the city, I was only informed mid-afternoon Friday that it would be closed for the long weekend," says Bradley. "If I had been consulted I would have said very clearly the work should be deferred, and the ramps kept open because the long weekend is very important for boaters. I have heard from a number of boaters upset with this on-going saga with the boat ramp."
He says the timing of the announcement on Friday afternoon is at issue.
"People had made plans for the long weekend, believing the ramps would be open," says Bradley. "Of all the weekends, it's usually the first weekend for boaters, and yes, there was an alternative set up at Bridgeview Marina, but at the same time there was so little official notice of the closing that it upset people."
Once again, Dave Brown and Bridgeview Marina are providing boat launch access at no cost to users.