While not unheard of, members of St. Thomas city council generally do not ignore the recommendations contained in reports from city staff.
Such was not the case at the May 12 meeting of city council where members dealt with the Ryan Davies Project, related to water safety in the Lake Margaret area.
The report was authored by Jeff Bray, Director of Parks, Recreation and Facilities, and he recommended that the city not proceed with the development of a personal flotation device bylaw or the installation of ring buoys around Lake Margaret due to the risk of liability claims.
However, by a 5-3 vote with Mayor Joe Preston absent, council approved proceeding with the bylaw and the placement of ring buoys at Lake Margaret.
Bray’s report was prompted by the death last Labour Day of 26-year-old Ryan Davies (pictured at left) who drowned when a canoe he was in with two others tipped over.
In the aftermath, his mother, Linda King, urged city council to establish a life jacket loaner program at Lake Margaret, along with better signage and the installation of ring buoys. She teamed up with Briar McCaw, co-founder of the Elgin County Drowning Prevention Coalition in her efforts.
Although the loaner program was not adopted, King is thrilled the city will proceed with the other safety measures.
It was Coun. Steve Peters who initially supported the bylaw noting, “I just think that anything that we can do to help potentially save a life is something that we should do.”
At the same time, King is calling for a life jacket loaner program at the beaches in Port Stanley.
King stresses this is only the beginning as she presses forward with her water safety awareness campaign.
“It’s really important to me, with what happened with Ryan, I don’t want anything like this to happen again. And, unfortunately, from everything I’ve been hearing, life jackets are just not something that has been pushed.”
Written by Ian McCallum
