Speaking on behalf of the residents in his ward, Coun. Angelo Marignani said the fence at Sandpoint Beach is an eye sore. “You can’t keep the fence up,” he exclaimed. “They (residents) are currently not very happy with the current state of it, with the fence blocking off the Sandpoint Beach area.” A 15 year old drowned at the beach in May of 2025. Two others lost their lives the year before. The beach was closed on June 9, 2025. A week later, access to the water was fenced off. Last July, Ontario’s Office of the Chief Coroner recommended the city conduct a safety audit. That audit is now done and in the hands of the city. “Without getting into the details of the report, certainly the challenge for administration is to identify risk that’s involved and how to minimize risk and balance that with people who want to access the water,” Michael Chantler, commissioner of Community Services told CTV News. He said a report will be presented to council on June 29, “I don’t think that there was anything in the report that was unusual or stood out to administration. I think that we certainly expected a lot of the information that came forward.” Marignani says the report could help the city move forward with money already earmarked for a splash pad. “By having the master plan in place and approved by council, you can then move forward with the splash pad, knowing that there won’t be any conflicts in placing that splash pad at that park,” said Marignani. Marignani is hoping the breakwall can be done around the same time as the splash pad and says that is a question council could consider after the report is presented later this month. “Can we do that right here and now and still put in the breakwall without slowing down that process of actually completing the Sandpoint Beach master plan,” Marignani said. “Get everything straight and let’s move forward on this gem that everyone loves.”
