Despite huge potential Tehkummah township ignores the possibilities
To the Expositor:
“Residents (and especially businesses) in South Baymouth readily admit the town would hardly (and perhaps not at all) exist were it not for the ferry and its patrons.” (Expositor editorial October 2). Sadly, this is even truer today than in the past. Despite having literally hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants, and offers of expert advice and support, over the last few years Tehkummah Township has succeeded in abandoning the Bowerman Trail, wasting thousands of dollars on the public beach, which still has broken public washrooms and no beach, allowing unmaintained marina facilities to deteriorate, and making no attempt to manage John Budd Park, leaving the closed signs up since COVID. Thank goodness the museum is run by the South Baymouth Community Development Association or that would probably be gone as well.
Unfortunately for the residents, all they would have learned from The Expositor’s reporting on the township over the last couple of years was that the reeve changed his title to mayor in order to get more respect, and our taxes went up six percent. And while The Expositor explained the cause for Assiginack’s six percent increase, we got nothing. But then most people appear to have communication problems with the Township. It doesn’t help that they still keep us taxpayers locked out the office, or that we have a non-existent clerk. Despite what I see as its obvious huge potential, I think it’s going to be a few years before South Baymouth will have the opportunity to evolve into anything other than an entrance and exit point to the Island.
My solution to the problem was to buy a trailer on Lake Kagawong, so I have somewhere to take friends and family when they visit, and for my nature walks which have become increasingly perilous here on the Bowerman Trail.
David Samuels
South Baymouth
