FOPI Annual Report 2006

November 2006

This was the Friends of Petrie Island’s ninth year of operation and our second with the new beach open. The City provided lifeguards and daily maintenance. The construction of a beach building was delayed and temporary washrooms, food concession, lifeguard office and storage were provided.

• High E. coli counts resulted in many beach closures this summer, this along with several articles questioning a beach at Petrie reduced attendance in the latter part of the summer
• The City completed landscaping and 78 parking spots on the East beach area
• Improved the Nature Centre, holding special events, presenting slide shows and giving tours.
• Participated with the Ottawa Stewardship Council in completion of an amphibian pond on Muskrat trail. Approximate value of project was $12,000.
• Funds generated included: $6,000 in grants, $400 in donations and a value of $18,000 in volunteer labour
• Worked with S.P.I.R.I.T. to develop programs at the Island for second year. The camps were run from the Grandmaître property
• Grandmaître opened a new boat launch in July
• Participated in Canada Day and River Day with Ottawa Ottawa Riverkeeper
• People from around Ottawa and area are discovering Petrie Island, showing this is a regional, not just an east-end facility.
• A Petrie Island Advisory Committee (PIAC) was formed including FOPI, community groups
• A new agreement was signed between FOPI and the City
• The second cottage was condemned and dismantled by the City, despite efforts by FOPI to save it
• The Friends of Petrie Island and the Ottawa Stewardship Council completed a preliminary turtle nesting study with over 150 nests reported.

• Improved picnic area by resurfacing and reseeding
• Improved the Nature Centre centre, including new displays and maps
• Majority of work was done on Wednesday mornings; two work days were also attended by the general public
• Many Scout, Guide and other groups participated in general cleanups.
• Completed planting wildflowers at amphibian pond and wildflower garden
• Built one new sign and two benches, as well as a path to connect the Sunset trail to the beach

• The City installed additional signs for beach, trails, parking and picnic area. Most of the signs are symbols rather than written, causing some confusion. More detailed signs with wording need to be installed at the Island and park entrance, especially emphasizing "No Dogs", curfew hours and "No Alcoholic Beverages"
• Logs are needed along the right-of-way to keep vehicles out of the picnic area.
• One piece of playground equipment donated by Orleans Recreation board

• Daily cleanup and monitoring of the picnic area and trails was provided by Friends of Petrie Island, using volunteers and students hired with City grant money - $3,124, along with an HRSS grant of $6,000. Monitoring is important to protect the environment and for public safety and has led to reduced levels of vandalism and damage
• FOPI again worked with City staff and Rangers to protect selected trees from beavers (wrapped trees with wire mesh).
• The City provided 12 portable rental toilets (5 months) for picnic and beach area, maintenance, materials and grass cutting as well as daily garbage collection and beach grooming
• City provided regular lifeguards from mid-June to the end of August for the three beach areas
• The beach was closed 48 days due to high E. coli readings - see Table 2
• Parking – new construction added 78 parking spaces for a potential total of 348 spots; the actual recorded maximum was about 300 due to improper parking with an additional 130 along the road, within the park area and another 100 along the road outside the park area. The number of days when over 350 cars were parked was 3 in 2006, as compared to 6 in 2005. Many visitors are still confused about parking fees and exactly when they have to pay. FOPI is concerned about parking tickets being given after 8 p.m. on weekends and holidays when there is less than one hour left to park closing. FOPI does not feel fees should be charged when lifeguards are not on duty before 11 a.m. and after 7 p.m., or during prolonged inclement weather.
• Regular dragging of the sand areas should be reconsidered - in addition to creating dust on windy days, it disturbs turtle breeding and the clean sand is now mixed with stones and other garbage. The sand areas were cleaned to bring them back to their original state.
• Spring flooding did not close the park but nature trails were closed for several weeks in April/May
• The weeping tile added to the centre sand area worked reasonably well except in the spring and during very heavy rains, when the drainage area next to the road flooded and overflowed. Better drainage or an enlarged pond are needed at this location
• A FOPI pilot project for picnic space reservations for large groups was successful in June and July, but use decreased by August. A total of $190 was collected, or about $20 per reservation.

• Attendance decreased over 2005 due to wet weather and beach closures resulting from high E. coli readings (215,535 - See Table1). Figures do not include Canada Day – estimate 24,000
• Attendance figures are based on car counts multiplied by 2.5 persons in May/June and 3.0 persons in July/August – figures represent person-hours of use.
• Figures are found in Table 1 and Appendix A. The attendance was based on the use of the entire park area inside the gate; on busy days this figure was adjusted to include cars parked outside the gates.

• Served on steering committee for Sonshine Families and assisted in operation and training of staff, to run summer day camps

• FOPI members continued Turtle counts on Turtle Bay
• Turtle nesting study was conducted in cooperation with the Ottawa Stewardship Council. Over 150 nests were observed and a report prepared by Joff Cote of the Ottawa Stewardship Council.
• Wood duck boxes (Ottawa Duck Club) were again well used. Of the 12 boxes were occupied
• Despite some publicity/concerns about decreasing wildlife, our regular members report no significant changes in the area
• The number of people using the nature trails on hot summer days when the beach area was full was very low – less than 10 people per hour compared with approx. 100 people on theme days
• FOPI continues to participate in the Riverwatch program for Ottawa Riverkeeper on the Ottawa River
• The largest amount of damage continues to be from beavers felling or damaging mature trees
• Increased monitoring of trails occurred this year due to increased staff from HRSS grant
• Produced a review of the trail and interpretive modules started five years ago. 90% of the interpretive signage and trail work proposed in the City document ($67,000) has been completed by FOPI at a cost of $10,000.

• Completion of the beach park plan with amenities such as playgrounds, food concession, picnic shelters, adequate washrooms, etc.
• A management plan for the Islands for the interim and long term including policies to protect the environmentally-sensitive areas, including local community input
• Use of the downstream bay (Cumberland Bay) for canoe, kayak and dinghy launching, as well as shore fishing
• We strongly oppose an interprovincial bridge at Petrie Island
• The banning of dogs on Petrie Island and increased enforcement of regulations re: boats, feeding of animals, and 9:00 p.m. curfew, although we feel there should be better signage, i.e. spelled out as opposed to using symbols
• We support the stationing of staff along the entrance road on weekend days to control access and inform public of rules
• Expansion of the surface treatment of the main access (Trim) road, for dust control and pedestrian/cyclist safety. This should also include the parking lots
• The addition of a bicycle lane along the access road to the causeway
• Regular bus service or a shuttle to Petrie Island during the summer
• Review of sand maintenance procedures

PROPOSALS FOR 2007

• Improvement in E. coli and beach status notification for the general public is required
• The importance of an entrance sign explaining the rules, especially the hours, the no-dog rule, the status of the beach and explanation of the parking times and fees
• Development of long-term plans for Petrie Island
• Continued support of Police and increased Bylaw Enforcement presence to keep area safe
• Continue to improve cottage/info centre and programs
• Development of environmental programs on the island for youth
• Continued wildlife studies, including turtle nesting
• Raising the road by 1' in the low spots to ensure year-round access, for safety (fire, police), convenience and better pedestrian and bike access

Al Tweddle, Chair, Friends of Petrie Island

(613) 824-1188 - hatweddle@rogers.com

* Board of Directors

January 1 – November 21 2006