News
News
KINGSTON FIGURES PROMINENTLY in the latest Lake Ontario Waterkeeper Podcast (in iTunes) and also avaiable here on their website
A comparison to previous years suggests that Kingston may be on its way to one of its worst sewage pollution years yet.
METALCRAFT MARINE is featured in today's Report on Business.
SLOW, FRUSTRATING PROGRESS on deferred maintenance at Richardson Beach, in today's Whig.
LARGELY LOST IN THE EXCITEMENT of the recent Olympic coverage was the release of the City of Kingston's Official Plan.
Not much has changed since this post from January 2009, about the draft-version of this.
Waterfront doesn't factor for much beyond cursory platitudes. That's a shame.
PAUL RUSHTON, perennial CORK volunteer and good friend of the waterfront, has passed away.
The memorial reception will be held on Saturday, March 6 from 5-7 pm at James Reid on Counter Blvd.
THE MARINE MUSEUM is on Facebook. This is a good thing because, like many organizations, it has been struggling with its website.
The best improvement is the coherent events page.
CONCEPT PLAN for Richardson Beach and Bath House in Tuesday's Council agenda. It's a 4-page PDF.
TWO TIER ENVIRONMENTALISM, the latest Lake Ontario Waterkeeper podcast, is excellent, excellent, excellent.
NINE OPTIONS for the third crossing in the EA update to Council next Tuesday night.
But that's probably theatre.
Tentatively, a report recommending the preferred option for the third crossing will be presented to Council on April 20th along with a staff briefing.
Can anyone imagine any recommendation other than the original route between Counter (Elliott) and Gore Road?
COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING REPORT for the River Park Subdivision on the Cataraqui River at Counter Blvd is before Council at the February 2nd meeting.
Looking at the document, is there a waterfront park planned for the River Park Subdivision? Not seeing it.
THE POKER RUN is Bill Hutchins' subject in last week's issue of Kingston EMC. (Does anyone cover the Council beat better than Bill Hutchins?)
A "SAFETY AT SEA" SEMINAR is open to all sail or power boaters on April 10, 2010 at the OISE Auditorium in Toronto.
This information-rich, one day seminar, provides the training necessary to handle emergencies away from land and is an asset for offshore or short handed crews.
Presented and endorsed by, among others, the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, US Sailing, and the Lake Ontario 300.
BUD GORMELY, past chairman of CORK, is to be inducted into the Kingston District Sports Hall of Fame later this Spring.
Quoting from the story in last week's Kingston EMC:
Marsha Gormley was happy to hear that her husband Russell "Bud" Gormley had been inducted into the Hall of Fame. She just wished that he could have been there to enjoy the honour.
Indeed. This honour is probably 20-years overdue.
Bud Gormley is remembered as a pioneer of the Canadian Olympic Regatta Kingston (CORK). During the 1976 Olympic Games, Gormley was known as the unofficial mayor of the Olympic Village at the Portsmouth Olympic Harbour. He was a key organizer of many other international sailing events in Kingston. Later in his life, Gormley carried out several humanitarian missions in the Dominican Republic.
Here's more on Bud Gormley.
Have a look at this sortable list of past HOF
inductees. Rowing and sailing combined account for just six of 111 inductees. Baseball accounts for 28.
IT'S THE MIDDLE OF JANUARY ALREADY.
Here is the status of online marketing efforts by several prominent waterfront-related organizations for the summer of 2010.
- Poker Runs America: 2010 details online (Aug 6-7-8).
- CORK: 2010 details online, plus tentative dates for 2011 through 2014.
- City Marinas: 2010 rates and dates online.
- Kingston Yacht Club: nothing posted.
- Collins Bay Yacht Club: nothing posted.
- Kingston Dragon Boat Festival: nothing posted.
- K-Town Triathlon: nothing posted.
- Kingston Rowing Club: not online anymore.
That's pathetic, no?
For the most part, 2010 dates should be posted within two weeks of the end of the 2009 boating season.
It's long-past the point of anybody caring about your Summer 2009 calendar.
HERE'S A LINK to a 44-page pollution report you may be hearing about over the next few days in the mainstream media.
Protecting the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin and Drinking Water Sources.
It's scary what gets dumped upstream and upwind of here.
THE KINGSTON ROWING CLUB let their internet domain lapse and dodgy squatters have taken it over. No link because, well, you get the picture.
K.E.A.F. SPEAKS OUT about the Poker Run on the Council agenda for next Tuesday.
That's another report that's not available online for the public.
NOTHING SAYS "KINGSTON" like the document titled City of Kingston Waterfront Strategy - Past Directions which is part of the upcoming January 7th Planning Committee meeting agenda.
Firstly, the document is borderline unreadable! When did it ever become OK to post unreadable documents for the public? This has been going-on for years.
Secondly, the online document is incomplete.
Exhibit 'A' -- 'Waterfront Strategy - Past Directions' which forms part of this report is being circulated under separate cover.
The public needn't concern itself with the specific contents of the "approximately 40 studies and reports (that) were undertaken during the past 30 years".
Thirdly, get this:
RECOMMENDATION:
That the "Waterfront Strategy - Past Directions" document be accepted as background information for the Waterfront Strategy, which will assist in the development of policies and recommendations to conserve and manage the City's waterfront.
Well, duh!
Progress on the waterfront file is here masquerading in the form of this totally obvious "report" from Cynthia Beach (Commissioner, Sustainability and Growth) that supposedly lists the details of 40 waterfront-related studies conducted over the past 30-years, suggesting that the Planning Committee should take time to accept the recommendation to consider recommendations arising from these studies when planning for the waterfront.
And so it goes.
Ever wonder how Kingston ended-up with a wasted waterfront? One reason is we have a Planning Committee that doesn't expect very much from City staff.
This endless visionless wheel-spinning helps ensure that money for the Downtown will indeed be amply available whenever needed. So, over time, we all end-up with, among other things, our fat-cat downtown and a shamefully wasted derelict waterfront.
Skeptical about that? Flashback to January 19th 2009. Read the whole thing.
INTERESTING INTERVIEW with MetalCraft Marine Contracts Manager Bob Clark from the tradeshow floor of the 2009 International WorkBoat Convention in New Orleans, LA.
In the interview Bob talks about the history of MetalCraft Marine, and the boats they design and build. Most people in Kingston don't realize the degree to which MetalCraft Marine is a player in the high-end fireboat and patrol boat markets.
HATTERS BAY PARK is still in jeopardy according to the Portmouth Villagers Association.
You may recall that the Coast Guard wants to shift their base from the west-side to the east-side of POH, clobbering the park, or access to the park, in the process.
Read more on the issue.
SAILBOAT RIDE IN KINGSTON for the Olympic Torch relay on December 15th.
The torchbearer is Olympian and CORK chairman Tim Irwin.
SURPRISE, SURPRISE: more units, less parking requested by the Elevator Bay project proponents.
Here's a roundup of Elevator Bay-related news.
THE BREAKWATER PARK RENAMING PROPOSAL is dead according to a City Staff report.
A NICE UPGRADE to the West Street Launch Ramp is presently underway.
Click here to see what it looked-like before.