PORT HOOD: The impact of Mother Nature’s bad side was discussed during Inverness Municipal Council’s monthly meeting on Monday.
“People are concerned with coastal erosion,” said Warden Betty Anne MacQuarrie, who serves as the council person for Mabou and Port Hood.
“It’s eroding the beach, the [Port Hood] breakwater, and the wharfs. This is storm-related, and it’s all about Mother Nature and her fury.”
The warden said council received a number of e-mails from locals, all relating to the pounding the area received during recent winter storms. Many of those e-mails had photos attached showing the state of the Port Hood government wharf, the wharf on Port Hood Island, the Port Hood breakwater, and Murphy’s Pond.
“The Port Hood government wharf is almost non-existent, and I don’t know how it’s going to function this year,” said MacQuarrie.
“There’s a tour boat that goes out, there’s a person who fishes out of there, and then there’s a ferry from that wharf to Port Hood Island. The municipality owns both sides, and though we have ownership, that doesn’t mean we are totally responsible for the upkeep, though we have been doing it through the years.”
Some of the repairs the municipality made include fixing concrete sections and installing and maintaining floating docks. The wharfs serve to connect Port Hood to Port Hood Island, where 43 seasonal home-owners have properties.
Dave Smith is the only year-round resident. Smith operates a ferry service back and forth to the island, and a local fisherman also makes use of the government wharf. In addition to that, a boat tour service also operates from the government wharf.
Port Hood has a second wharf at Murphy’s Pond, which could be used to accommodate the businesses. However, using Murphy’s Pond would create additional issues as the path from the island to Port Hood crosses the breakwater, which can be a tricky route.
MacQuarrie said she wasn’t looking for an immediate answer, but she would like to have a brainstorming session regarding it.
Deputy Warden Alfred Poirier suggested the subject be added to a later council agenda, so that some homework could be done prior to discussing it.
“Something has to be done at some point,” he said. “Safety is an issue that I’m thinking about right off the bat.”
Councillor Laurie Cranton, representing Margaree and area, said that he’s dealing with a coastal erosion problem as well. Cranton said one resident’s house and lawn are being eaten up by a stream coming off the Margaree River.
Council is looking into what can be done to help that resident. In relation to the Port Hood situation, Cranton said dollars and cents have to be looked at.
“We need to know what the costs are and if there are any other solutions that could be used,” he said.
The discussion ended with MacQuarrie moving for council to look into what the possibilities are to have the local wharfs made functional. With that, the warden added that the larger topics of coastal erosion has to be looked at, along with building up the Port Hood breakwater.