The District of Sechelt is working on a long-term solution while lobbying for a short-term fix to the Trail Bay seawall, which currently sits crumbling, marked with pylons and warning signs.
The last big storm in early March pummelled the seawall and tore away large boulders leaving the wall unstable and vulnerable to future storms.
The District of Sechelt hired specialists to help draft a long-term solution to the ongoing problem using community input gathered at a workshop held on March 29.
The same specialists helped the District put together an immediate response plan, which was sent to the province to justify the need for some immediate funding to fix the seawall.
"But in case that fails, we do have some funds to repair it in the short term, so we're not going to leave the wall for much longer," said manager of sustainability and special projects Emanuel Machado.
Concerns over the safety and effectiveness of the seawall have been mounting with the increased level of storm activity in recent years.
But the problem isn't easy to fix, according to Machado, who notes there is not much land to work with between the existing seawall and private property that lines the pedestrian walkway on Sechelt's waterfront.
"If we had all kinds of room, we would essentially angle back the wall in a way that would look more like a natural beach," Machado said. "The less room you have, the more upright the wall has to be. And the more upright the wall is, the bigger the force is from the impact of the wave and the more destruction it causes on the beach."
On March 29, about 60 people came out to a workshop to discuss the issue and talk about their desires for the entire Trail Bay foreshore, which includes the pedestrian walkway and beach area and runs from the Maritime Gateway Park to Snickett Park.
"There were two camps. One wanted a more naturalized feel and one wanted a more engineered feel. I think, at the end of the day, that's going to be the biggest challenge," Machado said. "How do we blend those two, keeping in mind the challenges of a very active beach area?"
He said the District is also mindful of the environmental impacts of any work in the area and noted fixing the seawall will be "an interesting challenge."
"I guess that's why you need experts and we've hired some of the best you can find anywhere including ocean specialists and landscape architects and structural engineers and public facilitation folks, as well," Machado said.
Those specialists will now take the comments from the workshop, as well as input from an on-line questionnaire, and come up with three design ideas and prices for those permanent fixes.
The public can expect to see those designs and have their say on them in another public meeting sometime in June before District staff bring a report forward with options to council.
Machado adds that once council approves a concept design, the municipality will be able to approach federal and provincial levels of government for funding.
