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It was, in his mind, just another bit of damning evidence against the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Humber Yacht Club, whose members motorboat along a narrow bend of the river in Etobicoke between the marshes and the bay, contending with critters and canoes.

“A swan can fly, and if it can’t get away from these boats, then what can?” he said.

The private marina, which has operated in the Humber for 70 years, has recently found itself in troubled waters.

The club opened its doors to jet ski users, drawing the ire of local paddlers and residents who say the noisy, motorized watercraft endanger kayakers and kill wildlife.

But it’s not just the jet skis. Some say the land is being abused by the club and its members. There have been threats of violence, they allege, and bad behaviour by those on the water.ÌýÌý

Club members deny they’re harming the area and insist they too love the peace and tranquility of boating in a waterway that leads to Lake Ontario

But the ugly dispute has made waves that have reached city hall, casting the future of the club and the area into question.

A new commodore — and new members

Cosmo Girimonte was elected commodore of the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Humber Yacht Club in 2019.Ìý

His critics allege Girimonte’s tenure is whenÌýthe riverÌýgot dirtier and meaner. Trees were chopped down. Gazebos erected.Ìý

Girimonte said he made moves to ensure the future of the struggling site.

“The club’s finances were nonexistent,” he wrote in an email to the Star. “Taxes not paid, plumbing infrastructure in disrepair, abandoned boats in the parking lot.”

What Girimonte said he did have was a lot of membership requests from jet skiers.

He went full-throttle on jet skis and similar personal watercrafts, allowing more of them into the club than ever before, even approving membership applications from people whose only boat was a jet ski, because he said the club needed to raise money for repairs.

Girimonte said although he’s “never personally seen wildlife harmed by a jet ski,” he “acknowledges it can happen.” He said the club takes animal welfare “very seriously.”

“Every spring, when turtles and Canadian geese lay eggs on club property, we post signs and flags to protect them,” he said. “We cherish our wildlife — it is part of what makes THYC a jewel.”

Wildlife suffers, critics say

Jason Sills is one of the club’s fiercest critics.

Sills, a massage therapist, wildlife photographer and paddler, says one of his chief complaints is the dispossession of animals in the area.

“Otters used to be in the river,” he said. “Jet skis scared them away. This place used to be a ground bird nesting area. You used to see killdeer there, you used to see yellowlegs. It used to be a nesting ground for turtles. All that’s gone now.”

Sills further accused the club of “environmental degradation,â€� chopping down trees and paving over green space, putting up dozens of gazebos and letting leaky boats stall. “It’s like a junkyard now,” he said.

Keogh was a member of the club, but quit after one season.

“It was hard to be there, because they were such poor stewards of the water,” he said.

“They’re peeing off the back of their boats. Catcalling women. Loose stuff on their boats gets blown away by the wind and ends up as garbage in the river. Ropes, flip flops.”

Keogh said his wife, Kelly, regularly finds nautical trash like this in the marshes. When the Star asked about this, the club denied responsibility, saying everything is kept fastened down.

An advocacy group called the Turtle Protectors said they have received “many complaints” about the club’s activities. Eight species of turtles live in the area, the group’s founder Carolynne Crawley told the Star, and all of them are at risk.

“We have heard about these incidents of not only turtles but also beavers injured by motorized water vehicles,” she said. “It takes approximately 60 years of egg laying to replace one adult turtle that is killed … Turtles are one of the cleaners of the waters, they consume dead plants and animals. If turtle populations decrease further, the waters will become sicker over time.”

Anti-pollution policy enforced, club says

With regards to accusations of environmental neglect, Girimonte said the club has not “abused the land.â€� Only trees that “posed a safety hazard” were felled, he said, adding that when he caught a member trying to take down a healthy tree he “personally intervened.” This person was voted out of the club soon after, he said.

“We have a strict anti-pollution policy, which we diligently enforce,” he added. “The club and park are located on an old landfill. When it rains, water seeps through the riverbank, often bringing with it traces of oil or debris. This has nothing to do with club activity.”

Girimonte said the club members aren’t the ones urinating in the river. “The board and I faced vandalism, rule violations, unpaid dues, theft, and even public urination on our docks by river users,” he wrote, “in front of families and children.”Ìý

In his statement to the Star, Girimonte wrote, “I acknowledge my mistakes and that I’ve made enemies in defence of this club.”

But, he added, he himself has been “threatened, verbally abused, and witnessed vulgar and disrespectful behaviour by former members.”

“I love this club with all my heart,” he wrote. “I admit that at times my approach has been inappropriate or overly aggressive. I regret this.”

City council to decide on the club’s lease

The club received a notice from the city that its $17,000-per-month lease would not be automatically renewed. It’ll be going month-to-month until the fall, when city council will make a final determination on the matter. Until then, the club has been ordered to restore the property to its original condition. The lease began in 1956.

Twenty-two other boat clubs are also up for lease renewal with the city. None received the letter Humber yacht club did ordering it to restore the property, according to the city.

In a statement to the Star, local Coun. Amber Morley said she does not support renewing the club’s lease “under the current conditions.”

“My office has heard deep and sustained concerns from residents, city staff, and locally engaged organizations regarding the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Humber Yacht Club’s conduct and environmental impact,” she wrote. “The club’s footprint sits on sensitive public land, directly adjacent to the Humber River, and over the years we’ve received troubling reports about encroachments, habitat disruption and unpermitted activity.”

A new commodore takes over

In June, Girimonte officially stepped down. But he retained his board seat and control of the club’s finances. In a letter to the club’s members obtained by the Star, he wrote that he was relinquishing control due to “ongoing health concerns and for the betterment of the club.”

No-nonsense security manager Mark Seenarine was elected in his place. The new commodore said he was willing to do whatever it took to rehab the club’s image and get the lease renewed. He said he’d reduce the amount of boats the club has, even get rid of jet skis, if he must. He would to plant more trees, he said, if the city wanted him to, get rid of the club’s gas pump, if asked to, and even dismantle some gazebos.

Seenarine and Sills formed an uneasy relationship. They texted about problems they saw out on the water. Sills even accepted an invitation to come by for a tour. It was a big departure from the screaming matches he said he and the previous commodore had on the two occasions they met.

But in the end, partnership eluded them.

“There could be no working with the club as long as Cosmo was a member, as there would be no guarantee he would not be re-elected commodore as soon as a new lease was signed,” Sills said. “I also want to make clear, I’m not trying to take over the space. A paddling club would be my compromise.”

In July, he created a Facebook group called the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Humber Paddle Center, to discuss what “might be possible on the property.” But in his “ideal world,” the club is razed and the city reclaims and “re-naturalizes” the land.

That would be a terrible shame, said Seenarine, while he was commodore. He said he feels the stress from work ebb away when he drifts down to the bay in his small motorboat, city skyline in view.

“We love being out here,” he said. “Just like the kayakers love being out here.”

The club changes course

Two weeks ago, Seenarine called a vote to have Girimonte banned from the club, a longstanding demand from Sills and his supporters.

Attendees of the meeting, which included all club members, say it was loud and tense. In the end, Girimonte persuaded the club that Seenarine had charted the wrong course for lease renewal. They didn’t need to clean up their act. They need to get lawyers involved to pressure the local councillor.

Seenarine then resigned. When asked for comment by the Star, he said he quit to spend more time with family.

He once called the club theÌý“lightning rod” of the Humber, pointing out that there is a public launch just downstream where anyone can embark on a personal watercraft.ÌýThese non-member boatersÌýare responsible for the most dangerous incidents on the river, he said, including one earlier this summer when two kayakers were flipped over.ÌýÌý

Opponents of the club say anyone who jet skis on the placid stretch of the Humber feel emboldened by the club’s openness toward the watercraft. That’s why, Sills said, a change needs to come.Ìý

“If they get another 20-year lease, they’re going to get 10 times worse than they are now,” he said. “Because once they have that lease, the city will do nothing to regulate them. They’ve already demonstrated that.”Ìý