Rising water levels have caused more headaches for area boaters, this time at Riverside Marina.
The Windsor Port Authority announced the partial closure the marina Thursday after waiting more than a month for water to recede. It will cost the authority more than $42,000 in fees after it refunds 36 boaters who have been displaced by the decision.
Harbour Master Peter Berry says the closure effects slips four and five, which sit lower than the remaining four slips in the marina.
"We couldn't safely ask boaters to go to and from their boats, even to check their lines. So we came to the decision that we needed to close that and refund the fees that these boaters had paid to this point," he says.
He tells AM800 News it was a tough decision to make.
"There are not too many places for them to go, private marinas are trying to accommodate as many as they can and they're suffering the same as we are with having diminished capacity due to flooding."
Berry says the $42,000 in lost fees will hit the WPA's budget, but skipping the refund isn't an option.
"Is it ever a good thing to give money back when you're dealing with your customers? No, it's usually a sign of dissatisfaction or operational failure and that's what happens in this case," says Berry. "It's just the right thing to do."
Riverside Marina sits just west of the already shuttered Lakeview Marina on Riverside Dr. E. at Riverdale Ave.
City Council approved $3-million to install a floating dock system at Lakeview back in April.
- with files from AM800's Rob Hindi