PORT OF LITTLE CURRENT—At its regular meeting on April 2, council for the Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands approved the purchase of Little Wally’s Dock Service from Rob Little, who has operated the business on the Little Current waterfront for many years, taking over from his father.
The waterfront business has been for sale for a number of years and, according to Mayor Al MacNevin, with rumours circulating that Mr. Little was prepared to retire without having received an offer of purchase, the municipality felt it was the time to act.
“There was a sense that it might not continue operating,” Mayor MacNevin told The Expositor. “We didn’t want to be in a position to have a waterfront without fuel and pump out.”
“Wally’s has always been a great addition to our waterfront and council felt that it made sense to purchase the business to ensure that we continue to provide fuel sales on the waterfront,” the mayor added. “The municipality wishes Mr. Little well and thanks him for his years of dedicated service to the business. I know that our Harbourmaster Reid Taylor will continue the tradition of exceptional customer service that Rob has established.”
The little wooden building that is the command centre for Little Wally’s will remain for now, but Mayor MacNevin shared that the municipality will not be offering any retail items for sale, as Mr. Little had done in the past, saying this was best left to the downtown merchants to handle.
CAO Dave Williamson told this newspaper that the building will either be torn down in future, or see significant upgrades. The purchase of Little Wally’s will mean an additional four summer students will be hired by the municipality for the downtown docks.
Council has agreed to fund the $210,000 purchase out of its waterfront reserve account which has been built up through profits derived from the operation of the downtown docks and Spider Bay Marina. “This effectively means that the purchase has no impact on local property taxpayers and is completely funded through waterfront operations,” a press release from the municipality notes.
The closing date for the purchase is May 8, and when contacted for comment Mr. Little said he would rather wait and reflect on his time spent on the waterfront closer to that date.
