THUNDER BAY -- People at Sandy Beach don't know if they'll be able to return to their camps, and in some cases their homes, leaving them frustrated and disappointed with the city.
Cabins have been up at the area South of Chippewa Park since the 1920s. Around 22 families have been entering into 13-year lease agreements to stay but so far they haven't heard anything from the city and the current leases are set to expire at the end of 2014.
The Sandy Beach Lease Holders Association has tried to contact the city several times since May to try and negotiate another 13-year lease with no response. Chair Bob Hupka said he's been at Sandy Beach for 36 years. Through four leases, three of those while on the negotiating committee, he's never seen the city be so secretive.
"This is the first time that we've been locked out like this," he said.
"We're terribly disappointed."
On Monday city council voted out of closed session to have administration proceed as directed on the matter but the campers, or general public, don't know what that means.
"We don't have any idea. We speculate it has something to do with the water," Hupka said.
The city tested wells at the camps and found while some had potable water, others didn't. In the past campers without signed acknowledgment agreements and would take responsibility. But since January of 2013 under the province's Safe Drinking Water Act, councillors in some cases can be held personably liable for water issues.
Those liability fears, and the hundreds of thousands of dollars the city would need to comply with regulations, got the city out of its rural water delivery service earlier this year. At the time city solicitor Nadia Koltun told council the city could open itself up to millions of dollars in lawsuits if it kept the 25-year service.
City manager Tim Commisso could only say he understands why the campers are frustrated but property and legal matters have kept council's discussions on the leases behind closed doors. He wants to meet with the group as soon as possible.
Hupka said the last round of negotiations took nearly two years but the campers stayed. Their biggest fear is that it won't happen this time.
"There's cottages there but there's also people, that's their home," he said. "Where do they go? What happens?"
