Sechelt public works supervisor John Devison says when it comes to derelict and abandoned vessels in Porpoise Bay, the district is “getting there, slowly but surely.”
Earlier this year the district was awarded $70,000 as part of the federal government’s program to pay for the removal of boats abandoned in small craft harbours.
Devison was asked for an update on the file at the June 27 meeting of the public works, parks and environment committee. He said that so far he’s spent around $3,000 to $4,000 of the funding to map the vessels causing concerns and start work on getting full assessments of what it might cost to remove and dispose of them.
“Once that is all done, that [information] gets sent back to Ottawa and then Ottawa is going to say you have X amount of dollars and you can get rid of these three or four boats,” Devison said. He also told the committee that he’s hoping to get permission from the federal government to use any money remaining from the original grant after the mapping and assessment work is complete to pay for some removals as well.
Of 19 problem boats identified by Devison, the federal funding is covering assessments for 14.
Tracing ownership has been a challenge in some cases. “I have a sunken sailboat. I have to get a diver to go down to see if there’s serial numbers on it and trace it,” Devison told the committee. “Each boat where the owner is unknown I have to post it three weeks straight in the paper before I can touch it.”
Devison said his department’s priority is to remove sunken boats first. He estimates there are currently four.
He also said once removals start, which could be as soon as late summer, it could encourage owners to deal with problem vessels on their own. “I think it’s going to be a bit of a snowball effect,” he said. “Once we show up with a barge and a crane, and we’ve got funding to get rid of X amount of boats, I think you’ll see some of them leave.”
Coun. Darren Inkster, chair of the committee, expressed concern that some owners might simply shift their boats to other areas outside the district’s water lease. Devison acknowledged that’s always a risk, but said Sechelt’s first responsibility is to keep the area it’s responsible for clear.
