Bottles litter Pasadena Beach after Canada Day celebrations

Pasadena Beach is a popular destination for locals and tourists looking to enjoy some warm summer weather, but some people left behind a mess after Canada Day celebrations Wednesday.

Mayor Otto Goulding was at the beach with his eight-year-old grandson to enjoy the celebrations when he noticed an accumulating amount of trash littering the sandy shores.

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"I really wish people would put their trash in the trash cans that are provided," said Goulding, who said he was also worried about the safety threat of broken glass along the beach.

Goulding said when he left the beach around 8 p.m., there were a growing number of empty beer bottles that he says remained at the beach the next morning.

It is a beautiful beach and we want to keep it that way.- Pasadena Mayor Otto Goulding

While the litter was cleaned up Thursday morning, Goulding said he was "embarrassed" by the state of the beach.

"I don't think that's what Pasadena Beach is," he said.

According to Goulding, there were people openly drinking on the public beach and that made for an awkward family setting.

"It's a public beach, people should feel comfortable in going there," he said.

"It should be their home and quite frankly, I was there with my grandson, I was not comfortable with the people openly drinking on the beach."

Stricter enforcement coming

Goulding said he'll be instructing town staff to notify RCMP if people are spotted openly drinking in public.

"It will be strictly enforced and if anybody thinks that they're going to Pasadena in the future to drink, then they will have to put up with the consequences, which will become a legal matter," he said.

"It is a beautiful beach and we want to keep it that way, and it should be for families."

Goulding added that while there were young people drinking on the public beach, there were also plenty of adults doing the same.

Part of the beach is also leased out to a private operator, and Goulding said he'll be arranging meetings with the operator, town council and RCMP to address the problem.