Cobourg Council Committee Learns More About Dredging

In City Hall, Local

(Today’s Northumberland file photo)

By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
As the annual dredging will soon begin in Cobourg, Director of Community Services Brian Geerts offered some information as a way to help councillors and staffers deal with the inevitable questions and complaints Wednesday at council’s Community Services, Protection and Economic Development Standing Committee meeting.

Geerts began by contrasting harbours with the lakes that feed them. Harbours are havens of calm, while the lakes are active. The result is deposits of sand settling at the harbour entrance.

“It’s the nature of harbours everywhere in the world to slowly fill in,” Geerts summed up.

He described dredging as “a very unusual municipal service. Many of the municipalities along Lake Ontario don’t necessarily have their own dredge or dredging service.”

Cobourg didn’t until about 15 years ago. They used to pay well over $100,000 a year to hire contractors for this work. Then they spent $600,000 for their own dredge – “not an inexpensive piece of equipment.

It would probably cost $1-million to replace it now,” Geerts said.

“It allows us to do the work ourselves. We can do it precisely, exactly where we need it, and there are environmental benefits to this piece of equipment.”

The job can be done in a non-precision way, scooping up great bucketloads of bottom and disturbing the silt so it damages the habitat. The precision approach of the dredge is more like a vacuum, essentially soaking up the sand from the bottom, pumping it down the pipe and transporting it to the beach to dry out.

And with only 1.5 people required for the work, he added, “it’s a significant operational savings, financially and environmentally”

Cecilia Nasmith
Author: Cecilia Nasmith

Join Our Newsletter!

Want to keep up to date on news and events in Northumberland? Subscribe to newsletter!

You may also read!

Cobourg Police Services Board Appeals to Citizens to “Reject Divisive or Inflammatory Rhetoric” After Mayor’s Message

Statement from the Chair of the Cobourg Police Service Board The Cobourg Police Service Board is aware of a

Read More...

Town of Cobourg Issues Notice of Intent to Designate 390 King Street East (Former Brookside Property

(Today's Northumberland file photo) Take notice that the Municipal Council of the Town of Cobourg on the 28th day of

Read More...

Ontario Reducing Wait Times for MRIs, CT Scans and Endoscopies

Province investing $155 million for 57 community surgical and diagnostic centres to connect 1.2 million people to publicly funded

Read More...

Mobile Sliding Menu