As some residents see it, Channing Beach is the new Phantom Lake.
Just as area youth of yesteryear would clamour to Phantom Lake, Channing Beach is drawing dozens upon dozens of children and parents eager to enjoy Flin Flon’s all-too-brief summers.
But some Channing residents say the beach’s skyrocketing popularity has in some ways outpaced the city’s ability to adequately serve all of those visitors.
“You can see the little kids running into the bush to go to the bathroom,” Cynthia Holmes told city council on Tuesday. “These kids are coming from all over town. There’s nowhere for them to go [to the washroom].”
Holmes and other residents of the subdivision are asking council to resolve that issue by installing washroom facilities at the beach.
Mayor Cal Huntley said council is trying to address the situation, but he made no promises.
“We’re not sure what we can do yet and we’re certainly open to suggestions,” he told Holmes and several other Channing residents at Tuesday’s council meeting.
“We recognize we have a problem…[and] we’ll try and figure out something that we can do going forward. It may not happen tomorrow, but we’re going to be working on it.”
Coun. Karen MacKinnon said she has seen firsthand the need for the washrooms. She observed a child at the beach hit the water only to declare he had to go to the washroom, requiring his mother to take him into the bush.
Holmes said several Channing residents would be willing to help maintain washrooms by visiting them each night and performing tasks such as ensuring adequate toilet paper.
Coun. Guy Rideout said he had wondered whether a committee could be formed to provide assistance and supervision if temporary washrooms were placed at the beach.
MacKinnon said she doesn’t believe residents should have to clean washrooms. Huntley concurred, saying “volunteers are great” but with the amount of people using Channing Beach, its maintenance needs to fall under the auspices of the city.
Another resident shared his observation that with so many small children walking to Channing to visit the beach, the lack of sidewalks in and around the subdivision presents a safety concern.
He told council that children are sharing the roads with heavy machinery and that he has witnessed several “near mishaps” over the past three years.
Huntley said sidewalks come down to dollars and cents.
“In a perfect world we’d love to have all our roads paved with beautiful sidewalks and a proper access and everything,” he said. “I mean, what we can do is encourage people to really be careful if they are walking, and anybody that’s driving to be very aware.”
Holmes added to the list of concerns by saying the garbage can and recycling bin at the beach are overflowing and need to be emptied more often.
Huntley said council would also look into that matter.
Holmes shared with council just how popular Channing Beach has become, saying any time she drives by she sees at least 100 people present.
“It’s just getting more and more people there all the time,” she said.
Holmes called Channing Beach “the new Phantom [Lake],” adding children from as far away as Creighton and Willowvale are walking there.
Channing Beach has undergone a revitalization in recent years with the addition of sand and play structures.
