The Mayor of Goderich says it's too early to say what this summer will bring for communities with beaches along the Lake Huron shoreline.
But John Grace says he very happy that Warden Glen McNeil is taking a proactive approach.
Grace points out, at this time, we don't event know if the stay-at-home order will be lifted or extended, or if the number of people vaccinated with the enough to keep the numbers down.
But Grace says, they do know, from the experiences that they had last year, that when one beach closed, as Goderich did a few times, and others remained open, people just moved on to the open beaches.
"We know the challenges because we have the experience that last year when one closed and others stayed open, all we did is transfer all of those people to different areas along Lake Huron," said Grace. "Because people have to travel through other communities to get to the shoreline communities, but we can't make these decisions on May 19th. The Warden is being very proactive and setting the agenda, so let's start making these decisions today."
Grace says he strongly supports the Warden's proposal to look at a collaborative approach involving all five municipalities along the shoreline and adds, it's not just an issue for shoreline municipalities.
He says Huron County is very much a tourism-driven county and those tourists have to drive through the other communities to get to the shoreline communities.
Grace says the approach the Warden is taking in bringing county councillors, staff and Huron Perth Public Health into the conversation is the way to proceed.
