Wunderlich has always opposed the parking toll. Could be, he's got commercial property on the lakeshore with tennants that depend on the day-traffic and understands the economic impact. Could be he's the only councillor with interests that depend on beach traffic.

I'm personally not against parking fees per se, the intention is sound and I don't think a quarry 30km away should be subsidizing our businesses when we don't subsidize theirs, but ...

• I didn't want some outside corp scooping up the lions share of the revenues with some buggy high-tech (read "low reliability") system that left us with less revenue than the cost to keep it all running, and

• let's be reasonable folks, this is not Wasaga or Grand Bend; $10 for an effective 'day pass' is absurd. For a lot of day-traffic people Sauble is their third choice, for others the beach is a 7-day repeat outing that's just jumped $100 for a 10-day vacation

There's a danger here of breeding exclusivity; if we price it out of the range of every-day folk, well, just wait until you see the sort of clientele engendered by exclusivity based on abilities to pay premium rates ...

But ... seems the damage is done, the die it is cast and no use crying over spilled intelligence. Given what we've now got, I could only propose a mediating impetus, a novel and clear force for positive change, and it's a bold brave and powerful move that could turn many eyes to look at the Beach and SBP with new eyes:

I propose we give half the money to charity

Dig? Just like Canadian Tire did when CocaCola wanted vending machines in their parking lot, "Sure thing," they said, "but X% of the money goes into our Charitable Fund!" Yeah, right on, you go CT, you rock.

Question is, does SBP council have the guts to take a stand for social change? Can they put themselves out, watch all that gold go by and actually smile to know their decision will be making this world a better place?

Or will they just rake it in and use it all to polish the jewel of their own crown?

Stay tuned.

And while we're on the topic of Looking Out for Number One, if that's the topic we're on, don't overlook the footnote on the decision: we will shunt the burden of breaking the news on to the backs of underpaid students

Wonderful. Just imagine, a family that has been coming to Sauble for decades, they drive all that way and pull up to their favourite spot along the lakeshore, and only then do they learn of the new ten-spot tariff? So they start to (ahem) voice their surprise at the local droogattendant, the poor underpaid meter-maid just trying to raise some cash for college. I can see the HRDC advert now:

Position: Parking patrol lackey
Remuneration: Minimal
Duties: Must endure excessive abusive language from surprised and disappointed tourists already stressed and exhausted from a long drive in the hot sun.

Ripper.

Here again, given what we've been handed, may I propose a second amendment? Drop the fee to $5 like Waugh says, then put up prominent information signs on a public education campaign saying why the new policy to support the beach and support local charitable causes, asking visitors to find the prominently clad enthusiastic young people (jr patrol by-law cadets!) and, above all, do nothing to enforce the by-law. Nada. Nix. Blind eye. Total honour system.

Just a thought.

One last heretical idea, something to throw out on the Council table that's sure to be good for a laugh at least, my third and final (you wish) proposed amendment, and listen up, 'cause this one is great:

Instead of arming the Jr Patrol Bylaw Cadets with pads to write tickets, send the patrols out with a pad of coupon booklets to hand to drivers of vehicles bearing today's parking sticker.

Dig the sinister economics of this, totally Seth Godin Free Prize Inside sort of thinking. For $5, they have a chance to win one of how ever many hundreds of booklets that will recycle more of their money back into the local beach economic ecology. And here again, let's not be stupid and selfish, but let's do good with the opportunity in our lap, let's make these coupons redeemable for things you are supposed to be buying, like sunscreen, vitimin-rich beverages, hats, postcards to write your ma and tell her you'd ok, you're just in Sauble Beach ...

It's golden, and it's sitting here right in our laps, and oh boy, the difference between the fast fist of an angry disappointed tourist with only $8 cash in their pocket or the beaming smile of a guest who's generosity we reward with many times the value of the gift they gave us.

Boggles the mind, it does.

So, Mr Mark, we know you read these pages :) ... what sayeth the Councillor?

Remember, this is SBP council were dealing with here - not particularly known to be the sharpest pencils in the package.

With today's computer and printing technology, counterfeiting these passes will likely be a no-brainer.

Safety of pedestrians will, mark my words, be a big problem.

Safety of the student parking "enforcers" will be compromised, mark my words. Not only will they be subject to much verbal abuse, I can envision some physical abuse happening as well, especially on Sauble's famous drunken long weekends.

Businesses at "the Centre" (sorry, that is what we called the retail area back in the '50's) will surely suffer. Hop in the car for a jaunt down to Cosmic Fries? No way, José! How's about a cone at Scoopers? Ain't gonna happen.

I can see now why Wunderdich would oppose paid parking. You hit it on the head, Gary. HIs tenants won't be impressed by the huge decrease in business they will experience. But this is more than a paid parking issue. This is a money-grab concocted by a council whose heads are obviously deeply buried in the sand dunes. Waugh is slightly more rational by supporting a $5 fee, but the logistics of collection and enforcement are highly problematic. For example, say there are, for matter of argument, 100 parking spots. Say 100 parking tags are sold. Then a few cars pull out and go back to their campgrounds for lunch. When they come back to the beach, more tags have been sold because the spaces are there. So all the spaces are filled and the poor sucker who took his family back to the campground for lunch is SOL for parking, parking that he paid $10 for!

Methinks that perhaps SBP council's collective spatial-thinking has been affected by the position of the planets? Has council been smoking Sauble Gold AND inhaling?

Why not actually study the situation, take your time and come up with a VIABLE solution that EVERYONE can live with. Actions begat reactions. I don't believe SBP council quite understands the enormity of what they have undertaken.

I hope SBP's insurance premiums are paid up. I can see lawsuits arising from small business, from affected cottagers (property damage), from assaulted/harassed student "enforcers", from those injured by the traffic chaos that surely will result.

The infrastructure for this parking money-grab just is not there. But what do you expect from a mickey-mouse council anyway. I hope this whole fiasco blows up in SBP council's face BIG TIME. This might teach them a lesson. Then again maybe not. Tough to teach old dogs new tricks, what?

Handing half of the monies collected over to charity is a great idea. But this is a money-grab, so why would SBP council be at all inclined to lose half their profits? I am sure there is some sort of Ferengi rule of acquisition regarding this!

What an odd thing for council to do, but mind you nothing surprises me. I had posted well over a year ago about how I thought paid parking could be a good thing, for instance 10 dollar season pass, as long as the money went to the library and to the breakfast program for feeding the hungry underprivileged children. I had no idea someone would come up with this brainstorm to charge 10 bucks a day. Everyone so far is correct, it will force people onto the sidestreets, and force people to buy that ice cream from the Grocery store and eat at home rather than travel downtown.
This was tried at the Hamilton beach strip 20 years ago, and lasted one season. People travelled somewhere else, and businesses failed.
Hey think about it 10 bucks..that’s a short trip to Southampton and back with money to spare.I like the part where they have to now hire people to enforce it..hmm why not make it 15 bucks so we can pay them and still reap profits?? I think someone isnt using their cerebral cortex the way it was intended.
Lets take a look at some of the quotes from the councillors:
“A 2004 report from Pat Stock, the manager of financial services, estimated beach costs at over $321,000.”
Yes, it may well, but how much TAX money does it bring in with the visitors being attracted to the beach, and how much revenue do the businesses make from this?
Ok now to number 2:
“Councillor Gwen Gilbert said at the time that it would provide valid revenue. “Taxpayers are trying to tell us that their taxes are too high.” She also chastised those who opposed it for not taking into account a Sauble Chamber of Commerce revitalization plan which called for paid parking.”
Yes taxes ARE too high, and yes 321,000 for the beach(and I am accepting that number the same as I accept being fettered….which is to say not at all) so lets take this in to perspective. There is no problem whatsoever in paying the same amount of money to pay a consultant to do a study for their pet project the pipeline, which was wasted money,…hmm…perhaps..we should do a study to search for wasted money?? And no we do not need a consultant for it..In my opinion, anyone that has to bring in a consultant to do THEIR job, is incompetant for that job.Leave it , lets hire the consultant, but that is an aside thought.(Hey Im a consultant, I have an online degree that took me 30 seconds to fill out)
Now to number 3:
I really dig this quote: “She also chastised those who opposed it for not taking into account a Sauble Chamber of Commerce revitalization plan which called for paid parking.”
Ok..so..you are council borg..resistance is futile? I think not. Do not forget something, this is the information age, we are well educated and very determined people that know what democracy is. We have ideas and thoughts and they should be respected. Remember, council is elected to represent its constituents, and to listen to them, not to chastise them for having and using a brain.
Costs of the beach? Yes there is a cost. But it’s like investing, you pay out to get dividends. I do not own a business here, but I fear for what this will do to those businesses. I fear for what it will do to the poor cottage/home owners who will be plagued with traffic to save 10 bucks. But more than that, after being so negatively viewed about the pipeline issue province wide, I am fearful Sauble becoming a joke and “don’t go there it’s a RIPOFF “.
Common sense should prevail, and really, in the end the common sense is us. Our votes count. Only thing to do is to remember! And act. Next election.
The whole SBP could be so great, in function, in action, in attraction , and in growth. All it takes is some thought, without any other alternatives. No real estate holdings, no future /what ifs/ just that /This is my job and I will do the best for everyone in sbp/.
Its not a dream..it has happened elsewhere .
To give credit where credit is due..cheers to Mark for voting against it.
It all reminds me of an old shakespeare quote:

"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages."

Thanks to Owen Sound Sun Times for a great article on this.To read it click HERE
(Note: Link removed due to change at source)

Quote from bub: "To give credit where credit is due..cheers to Mark for voting against it."

Credit where credit is due! Mark Wunderdich voted against the paid parking bylaw,yes...but WHY did he vote against it. Isn't that the crux of it? Not what he did, buy why he did.

"Altruistic" is not a word I would apply to anything related to Mr. Wunderdich, nor most "politicians" of any colour. Let's look at where this is coming from. Don't you find it odd that he is the ONLY one who voted against paid parking at Sauble? Why would that be? Remember, he owns all those retail buildings smack dab in the heart of the business district of Sauble Beach. Do you think that maybe he is ONLY thinking of his own pocketbook? Rather than vote against paid parking, he should have abstained from voting on the issue altogether because he has a VESTED INTEREST in maintaining the status quo. This is the problem with having self-employed business people running SBP council. They simply cannot stay at arm's length from issues like these because these issues directly affect their bottom line.

So what I am saying is that Wunderdich did not vote against paid parking for any reason other than his own selfish needs. Period.

I should state here that my opinion of Wunderdich is no different from the opinion I have of the majority of politicos out there. I'm not out witch-hunting - I just like to call it like it is. There is little honour among politicians, as we have certainly witnessed of late within our federal political system. Ethics are not a strong point among politicians. There are some exceptions, of course. Ovid Jackson comes to mind.

Enough ranting for today.

Enjoy your weekend folks. Enjoy the free parking while it lasts!

You are quite correct in the /reasons/, and by no means would I ever think highly of anyone on council, as it stands.Unfortunately the way democracy is, there is no way to force vested interest parties in not running for office, but we can educate and inform the electors, and hope that reason prevails.
I also second that of Ovid.
Cheers everyone have a happy may 2-3 :)

I won't take credit for this one, this is May's bit of astute observation: The basic argument is superficially that there's no reason some quarry operator up the South Peninsula should have to pay hard-earned tax dollars to clean up a beach when the beach business don't pay any equivalent levy to help crush rocks, so in the interest of the Modern Cult of the User Fees, it then is said to make sense that the Users (not the Pushers) should cough up the fee.

So far so good, especially if you're a Republican-wannabee, but May then asks, "So where, then, will the $321,000 go?" -- dig, we had that money when we were Amabel, must have because we spent it, every year; yet today, despite the amalgamation, we have at least as many taxpayers in the former Amabel region paying even more municipal taxes ... so it stands to reason, simple arithmatic, that if the $321,000 existed before amalgamation, it still exists after amalgamation. Ipso Facto to-wit and therefor this money, our money, local Amabel money and not Wiarton, Mar, Allenford or quarry money but beach-based Sauble-area taxpayer money, enough to cover that bill, this money is known (by prior history) to exist.

Only, according to this slight-of-rhetoric out of Council, all of a sudden like, POOF! -- Our $321,000 has vanished?!

Thin air?

It cost a lot to hire pipeline consultants..doesnt it?

When I was enjoying a few frothy brews at the horn, talking to the locals..NO-ONE knew..., some were shocked, others said" amalgamation has hit us again"(thanks for the quote Lois).
Sean said " I heard it was lowered to 5 dollars", now that wouldnt shock me at all, its the old political trick of /your taxes are going up by 10 percent/..huge uproar...then a quick /oops we were mistaken its only 8 percent/ ..a big sigh of relief..*thank goodness they arent going up that much*..such an old old political ploy.
Driving down to the home hardware near the beach, picking up a toilet flush mechanism(hey its a new type of gadget that doesnt have a float..works nice to..like the people in that store!) Same kind of reply: "I havent heard anything about it"
I then drove up to the home hardware near the beer store to pick up lumber, a young good looking fella with blonde hair and a good tan, loaded my lumber in my van for me.I told him about the beach charges, his reply? "I work here for minimum wage, at lunch I go down there to eat my lunch and relax a bit, now the town is taking that away?"
Back to mamas for coffee before heading back home, and talked to Juan, "I like to drop by Lobbies for a few cold ones after work..guess I wont be doing that."
And this is the people who LIVE here.Go figure.

For those interested in the ongoing saga of paid parking, I just posted a link to the minutes of the post-mortem meeting. Tying it all back to the very first post in this thread, one of the items on the table for next year does indeed address the issue of parkers all over the damn place: Let's put paid parking everywhere!!!!.

More news, as it happens. Film at eleven.

This is hearsay, but I'm hearing said that says the paid-parking game-rules for 2006 are going way beyond the 'three scenarios' given as the alter-destinies at the famous Sauble school parking post-mortem last fall. Way beyond ...

• Far from a youth employment project, this year there will be only one vendor for tickets, greatly cutting costs so even more profits can flow into making that washroom back of Sex on the Beach into something of a Turkish Delight.
• Not content spreading the blight across many more open spaces of car-park tarmacs, the 2006 rules will go into overtime, extending the paid-parking across pretty much all the daylight hours.

Like I said, this is hearsay, but I also remember how the original beach-parking game-rules were never announced by any flier in my mailbox or downloadable PDF on the townsite, they were pieced together from stray rumours and gathered right here on the Peninsular! So if anyone has any more bits on the selling of the beach by the yard, please do post it here, or maybe even better, post it in your SBP blog so it gets the attention of the hapless tourist travellers who are going to collide with this madness in just three weeks.

And as for our own resident ratepayer use of our own freakin' beach ... does anyone know where I can get a good infant-sized bicycle helmet?

Just back from a bike trip along the lakeshore, and yes, it's official: $10/day, 7 days a week, 9am to 8pm, May 15 to October 15 (there goes enjoying the Indian Summer) and yes, tickets vended by one lone robot standing like a phone-booth across from Lobbies. On the plus side, you can cut your costs by parking only just long enough for a swim and then clear out of town for just a twoonie ($2) for each hour of ticket-time. Whoo-ooo.

That's ok. We'll be eagerly awaiting all the great new facilities that all this windfall will bring and when we're lounging in the Ceasar's Bath it won't seem so bad now will it? Be so many oodles of cash dripping from the faucets that maybe we'll even have a Canada Day Celebration that doesn't have to headline Robbie 'Feel Good' Rob'n'so' and maybe actually pays the other musicians! It'll be fab, you just wait, you'll see. Real fab.

Back at just lounging the beach and watching sunsets and all those other reasons we choose to live along the Huron shore, we'll be investigating bicycling options for transporting infants (post your tips if you have any) and trying to enjoy our beach that way until some grubber clicks to that and starts charging for cyclist space.

Better still, hey Mr Mayor, say what the hey let's just cut straight to the cash-back quick of this and let's go Provinciale just like the Parisians in their metered-bench parks, or like the hoodlums hassling homeless in deep urban Bombay: Let's just charge people an hour-rated rental per square meter of occupied beach!

Ha, I heard you. You laughed. Well, just wait until someone computes the revenues on that idea. Never happen? We shall see ...

Not everyone will agree with me but it is fair to require beach day trippers to pay for parking. They are high maintenance and the ROE (Return On Expenditure) for taxpayers who pay the freight for beach users is pretty much a loss.

The logistics of giving everyone in the Town of South Bruce Peninsula a free pass and preventing them from handing it over to a friend in Owen Sound or where ever - wink, wink, are pretty high cost.

We have the owner of Sauble River Campground Gary Nichi running for mayor. His single issue for the last two years was to try and weasel cheap parking passes from Council for his campground clients. The last thing we need is another business owner promoter who is potentially in conflict with just about every issue at the Council table sitting there looking after his own interests.

Most of the locals know they can park free a block back. Speaking of conflict....

Mark Wonderlich's behavoir is unpredictable. After consistently voting against paid parking while he was a business owner he now declares a conflict and does not vote on or discuss parking issues. He says because he holds a mortgage on a local business property he cannot participate.

His logic escapes me but then again it is not the first time. His re election anywhere is probably not logical either.

We now bike to the beach, at least until they slap a tithe on that access route and no, not nearly the daily trip that would delight the family as little as two years ago, but frequency aside, here's the interesting bit: what greets us each time we roll down 6th to the lakeshore is a tad perplexing: Right along side the 6th and Lakeshore beachhouse parking lot sits a patient friendly young parking ticket vendor, the live and in person kind, under the awning, just like in the long thought-lost days of yesteryear. And there's more: Said teen/twentier sits beneath a large sign proclaiming parking rates only in effect until 4PM. So, clearly, the late evening tax is limited and I am encouraged to see that the full-day cash-grab wasn't as blanket as first reported, but now I'm wondering just what is the rule. Is the all-daylight tax limited only to the Crowd Inn lot? Only to a certain stretch of Lakeshore? Only to the parking guarded by the cold Robot Sentinels? Is there any difference in the rates?

Are the full beach parking regulations posted anywhere?

For a very interesting encounter with Man-Machine interface studies, here's a fun exercise: Sit yourself down in the shaded bench outside the young Wunderlich's new pinball arcade and just watch the random demographic as it encounters The Parking Ticket Machine. Hilarious great good fun; we should run a Candid Camera on it!

Oh, and as for $15 for parking, Dodge you can raise it to $150 or $1500 if you like, because me and my crew are already blown out of the water. Don't much matter to us anymore. We haven't had a beach ice-cream, chips, latte, burger, beer, pizza or even a pop in so long, it's hard to remember what it was like, so we don't miss it. Are the sunsets still as pretty?