The Bluewater councillor representing Bayfield says the village is in for some challenging times over the next few years.
Bill Whetstone points to deterioration of the main street, the replacement of the bridge over the Bayfield River, the sale of the marina and the concerns over closed landfill sites as major concerns. Whetstone suggests all of them will tend to drive people away from Bayfield and find other places to visit, shop and launch their boats.
He says while they're all serious issues, they could be dealt with individually, but he says with all of them happening at the same time, the economic impact on the village is going to be significant.
Whetstone says the bridge replacement, the sale of the marina and concern over the old landfill sites will all tend to drive people away and he says once they leave they don't come back for some time.
He adds the one issue that could be addressed by the municipality fairly quickly is the upgrade to the main street and that might help to draw people back while the other issues are being resolved.
