I was enjoying walking Cottonwood Island last Sunday. The tent caterpillars, high water and mosquitoes hardly reduced the quality of the experience. Congrats to the city on such a great park. But I was horrified when a boat started racing on the river. The occupants were firmly seat-belted in and wore full-surround helmets but the engine was outrageously loud. How loud was it? One thing to compare for me was once seeing and hearing the supersonic Concorde fly overhead and it was sickeningly loud. If that boat on the Nechako had legal decibels then surely all the motorcycles in town will be in compliance with noise bylaws even if they get rid of their exhaust mufflers.
Just a suggestion - but shouldn't the city immediately move to bar this noisy boat from running on the Nechako in city limits? Come to think of it, I can't think of a good place for this boat to operate as it will always be hugely disruptive to people and wildlife. Perhaps it should only be run on the ever-increasing-in-size Alberta tar sands waste ponds - they'll have plenty of room to operate and the noise would help keep waterfowl away.
Seriously, we need to encourage and make allowance for, most reasonable human pursuits but this one, near downtown P.G. and in a beautiful park, has way too much downside.
Keith Gordon
Fort St. James
