To the editor:
I just finished reading a letter from Sepp Mattiasch regarding the City of Kelowna’s lack of care for the public beaches. (Kelowna Beaches are a Messy Disgrace, May 24 Capital News.)
I will say up front that I totally disagree with the comments.
(As an aside, I was amused by the shift [the writer makes] from beaches in Kelowna to the penal system in Austria—very amusing!
In spring 2012, there was a lot of flooding in Mission Creek and others resulting in logs and debris of all kinds in the water and especially on shore. As an open water swimmer representing a group that swims at Gyro Beach from 6 a.m. throughout the day from February through October (and longer for some), I have to say the city does an outstanding job of cleaning up Gyro Beach and I suspect others as well. When I arrive between 7 and 8:30 a.m. every day there are workers already out with large ride-on equipment meant for sifting all material from the beaches and water. When the runoff was particularly bad last year they had heavy trucks on the beaches prior to public access, loading and hauling away logs and other debris. The sand is raked clean daily and I expect to see the same this season as well.
I would challenge the complainer to head down to the Kelowna public beaches at 6 a.m. and watch the amount of activity in progress by the hard working city staff.
Gerry Moyer,
Kelowna
