South Bruce Peninsula Mayor Janice Jackson says the Sauble Beach community is seeing a spike in mischief, illegal alcohol consumption and vandalism, and the OPP are stepping up their patrols in the community.
“As we work to seek compliance of our bylaws, we are noticing a rather alarming spike in the amount of alcohol being consumed on the beach,” says Jackson, in a summer update letter to constituents July 21st, in which she described some recent issues the town has been dealing with.
Town staff told council at their most recent matting, that as of July 12th, 212 provincial offence notices were issued on the beach, compared to 229 for the whole of 2021. They say 87 of the 212 so far have been alcohol related.
“We’ve issued three times as many infractions for alcohol than anything else, barbecues, tents ,dogs, anything else,” says Jackson in an interview with Bayshore Broadcasting News.
She notes, “Nowhere in Ontario is drinking in public permitted.”
Jackson’s letter also described other incidents, saying, “The caesar bar illuminated sign was vandalized and a speeding vehicle driving too fast to make the corner, drove right into the Chip & Patty store at the corner of Lakeshore and Main St. one evening in June.”
She also noted the old Scoopers ice cream hut behind the former JK’s department store burned to the ground and construction material from the Sauble Sunset development at the site of the former amusement park was stolen in broad daylight.
Jackson adds, “We are also experiencing occurrences of large groups of youths hanging out in the Town Square and causing issues. We’re seeing an increase in vandalism as we’ve had our Sixth St. washrooms damaged along with our town square power box.”
According to Jackson, the vandalism at the 6th Street washrooms included smashing toilets and ripping hand dryers off the walls. She says streamers of toilet paper were strewn from Sauble Beach part way to Owen Sound in the ditches. “They took every roll of toilet paper they could get their hands on and threw it out the window as they drove to Owen Sound.”
“What we’re finding with the vandalism is it’s the kids and they’re local kids,” says Jackson, adding, “When I say local, I mean, Owen Sound, Georgian Bluffs, up into South Bruce Peninsula. So they’re local kids, they’re not the tourists and that’s what’s really disappointing.” She explains, “They’ve been identified to us by people that have seen them.”
Jackson calls the issues ‘alarming,’ saying the Town has been in discussions with the OPP who have increased their patrols of the beach area. She says the Town is also installing security cameras in the Town Square and at Sixth Street and putting signage in the town square to let people know who to call when they’re seeing a situation unfold. “Whether it’s 911 or the non-emergency OPP number, whether it’s bylaw control– we’re going to lay that all out for everybody and let them know exactly what numbers to call,” says Jackson.
Jackson’s letter includes an appeal to residents for information, saying, “We could really use your help with reporting incidents you might witness.”
She writes, “The OPP advised that they are not getting calls about these occurrences. People are taking videos but they aren’t alerting the OPP when it’s happening leaving them with no ability to quickly respond.”
Meanwhile, she says bylaw officers have been harassed while issuing tickets on the beach, saying one charge of interfering with an officer has been issued.
“There are certain individuals that have been harassing our bylaw officers and we’re starting to charge those people now with interfering with a peace officer. We just can’t back down on this kind of behaviour and we’ll keep it up, we’ll keep charging people. We’ll keep calling the OPP. Our community doesn’t accept this. Our council doesn’t accept this and we’re here to make sure that we don’t allow it to get any further.”
