Marysville couple lose dock because of township shoreline erosion work

A Wolfe Island couple has lost their dock due to shoreline erosion work being done by the Township of Frontenac Islands.

Tuesday, Judy Greenwood-Speers looked on as load after load of rocks were dumped along the shoreline of the bay across the street from where she lives in Marysville on Wolfe Island.

During the 2020 budget process, Frontenac Islands Township council approved $100,000 to fix and prevent further shoreline erosion along a small bay in Marysville.

The rocks being added by the township stretch along the entire length of the bay, forcing the removal of Greenwood-Speers’ and a neighbour’s docks.

Greenwood-Speers says both her dock and her neighbour’s helped prevent erosion caused by flooding in 2017 and 2019.

“Our docks were actually part of the repairs along the shoreline,” Greenwood-Speers said. “If those docks weren’t there before there would have been even worse damage.”

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Greenwood-Speers says while the dock is on public land, it’s part of her right to access to the water, which is in the deed to her home.

Along with the deed, Speers has affidavits from previous owners of her home stating the dock in some form has existed for decades.

Frontenac Islands Mayor Denis Doyle says the breakwater has to run the length of the bay according to their engineers.

“The wave action when it hits the eastern shore would erode unprotected portions of the roadway,” Doyle said.

Greenwood-Speers sees it differently, saying flooding in 2017 and 2019 was the issue.

2:25 Township of Frontenac Islands tells Wolfe Island couple to stop rebuilding their dock

“It’s not the wave action that’s doing the damage it was the high water.”

Greenwood-Speers says it’s difficult to watch the natural beauty of the shoreline disappear under tonnes of rocks along with the dock that her husband spent the summer repairing.

Crews managed to remove Greenwood-Speers dock in one piece leaving it on her front lawn.

Greenwood-Speers says she continues to consult with a lawyer about the situation but no decision on any legal action has been made.