A resident whose home is on the waterfront is worried about the safety of swimmers along the non-lifeguarded beaches on Lake Nipissing.
The man, who lives off the shore of Lake Nipssing, believes there’s a serious safety issue with kiteboarders ripping across the shoreline of Lake Nipissing during the summer months.
“Our children and grandchildren run in as soon as they see the sails,” he said.
“Last summer they were almost killed by a boarder who never saw them.”
Melinda Fry, from the City of North Bay’s Parks and Recreation Department, is aware of the concern.
She believes many of the kiteboarder’s launch from Callander and surf across the Lake Nipissing shoreline all the way north to unsupervised beaches like Sunset beach near the concerned man's home.
“Because the kiteboards are not motorized, they don’t fall into the 30-foot rule from shore and that’s a marine rule that the OPP enforces,” stated Fry, noting that Kiteboards are not permitted to launch within the buoys on supervised beaches on both Trout Lake and Lake Nipissing.
The concerned man says he has brought the concern to the city, the local city police, and the OPP.
“Last summer we called the North Bay City Police, who came to the beach and immediately saw the danger,” said the man.
“But without a bylaw, they are powerless. The city has jurisdiction over the beach and nearshore water, then the OPP take over.”
He says he has had positive dialogue with kiteboard users but neither side has really come up with a solution to the concern.
He has been looking into the issue for over a year and he hopes something can be done before a tragic accident between kiteboarder and swimmer occurs.
