Bypassing of gate on Victoria Park's floating dock worries Charlottetown councillor

A Charlottetown city councillor is raising concerns about what he describes as a dangerous practice near the floating dock at Victoria Park.

Coun. Mike Duffy saidhe's personally witnessed young people climbing over the rocks near the dock after the gates to the dock are closed.

Duffy said the city may be partially to blame because it has a sign on the gates going down to the dock saying it is open from dawn to dusk.

But he said he's checked.The city doesn't open the gates until an hour or more after the sun rises.

"We have to do something there because if someone slips and gets hurt in that situation we could be facing some legal problems, especially when we say the thing is open at dawn and two hours later it's still not unlocked causing somebody, wisely or unwisely, to go down on the rocks," Duffy said in an interview with CBC News following city council's monthly meeting Monday evening.

'That's quite a fall'

"That's quite a fall down from those rocks. I wouldn't want to venture down there."

Duffy wants the city to open the gates at dawn, just likes it says on the signs.

"Fairly simple but it just takes a little bit of organization."

Coun. Mitchell Tweel, chairof the parks andrecreation committee, said he's prepared to take a look at the issue to see what can be done.

But Tweel said it will be difficult to prevent people from climbing on the rocks.

"Residents are free to climb over the rocks. We certainly don't recommend it, but we can't prevent residents that want to climb over the rocks," said Tweel.

"It's pretty hard to police something like that."

Tweel said he's prepared to take a second look at when the gates open. He said this is only the second year for the floating dock and he said there are still a few kinks to work out.

Earlier this month, the city decided to spend $15,000 to expand the floating dock. The original dock, installed in 2019, cost city taxpayers $51,605.

The city will create a T-section at the end of the dock, which will allow for more people to use it. The new pieces for the floating dock should arrive in the next week or two.

"The floating dock has gone over extremely well," said Tweel.

"People are really enjoying the experience and this new feature that has been added to the park."

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