A pair of recommendations will have no further action taken by city administration.
Current River Ward councillor Andrew Foulds was instrumental Wednesday night in drafting up the amending motions to switch the beach and the courses from Consider for Further Review to No Further Action.
Boulevard Lake Beach
Foulds made the case to his fellow councillors to not sell or close Boulevard Lake Beach.
The final vote was 9-1 with At Large councillor Rebecca Johnson opposing the measure.
McIntyre Ward councillor Albert Aiello wants a closer look at the water quality.
“I’ve had discussions with people who are looking at basically wanting to come invest in Thunder Bay and install a water park at Boulevard Lake, but [the conversation is focused] around water quality,” says Aiello.
Meanwhile Red River Ward councillor Brian McKinnon couldn’t figure why the beach was on the list in the first place.
“This is ridiculous! I mean thousands and thousands of people use that facility safely and my first thought was [if we close or sell the properly] people will still use it but unsafely,” McKinnon remarks.
City Owned Golf Courses
For the time being the Strathcona and Chapples golf courses will stay under city ownership and open.
A number of deputations came forward to share their support for keeping the courses under the city umbrella including 29 year old Jake O’Neill.
O’Neill says “It’s a game for some but not for all. It’s not a game for those that are on fixed income levels. It all comes down to 
affordability, accessibility and inclusion.”
Administration will be looking at the finances of owning the golf courses and are set to report back by January 11th 2021.
Council could still choose to close the courses, but City Manager Norm Gale had a warning about the Chapples land.
“That land was donated to the municipality a long time ago with a provision that it’s to be kept as green space. It doesn’t have to be a golf course but it needs to be kept as green space. We can’t sell that land, we can decommission golf and turn it into open space,” Gale cautions.
The Report
Grant Thornton LLP’s engagement process included surveys, public open houses at City Hall in Phase One, and information and updates on the Get Involved section of the City’s website.
The cost of the Program and Service Review was $256,536 with $230,314 being reimbursed by the province from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing Audit and Accountability Fund.
More of the report can be found here
