When we arrived at the Manitou landing on Lake Temagami at the beginning of May my first
impression was wow! The municipality has upgraded the loading area. Then I took a closer look and
recognized that the pretty new retaining wall was considerably closer to the shore than the previous
wall. Last summer if there was a vehicle unloading you could drive by and get access to your boat. This
year a single vehicle creates a bottleneck. Why would anyone spend all that money to make a
downgrade?

One might also have naively thought that an upgrade would have included some improvement
to the dockage at the landing, which has always been a problem in the busy summer months. As the
pictures (at the side) show, not only were there no extensions added to the existing dockage, one dock
has sat high and dry on the shore all summer. A guest waiting to be picked up witnessed as many as 6
boats floating around in front of the dock area waiting for an empty space so they might be able to
dock. Many left in frustration. That scenario has played out on every nice day this summer. I hung on
to the end of the dock to make my pick up.

The municipality of Temagami has increased my taxes 50% in the past 2 years and intends a
further 50% increase it in the next 2 years. Is this the kind of service to be provided from this exorbitant
tax gouge?

Gaye Smith
Island 970
705-237-8709

Boat docking area...completely occupied

Dock that has sat on shore all summer

Pretty new retaining wall and narrow loading area