Recreation area discussed, possible site walked
By Caitlyn Kelleher JOURNAL REPORTER

A large group of residents, mostly members of the Lake Watatic Lake Association, were on hand to meet Ashburnham officials as they walked through two pieces of property on the lake on Saturday, June 14.

Many of the residents were ready to express their concerns about a public access beach or park on the property. Board of Selectmen Chairman Christopher Gagnon and the other two selectmen listened to some of the concerns and tried to answer questions but said the real discussion hadn't happened yet.

"This meeting was not supposed to be a public hearing," Gagnon said. "This was supposed to just get the layout of the land."

The goal of the walk-through was to get all of the members of the town boards and departments on the same page as to the conditions of the land, Gagnon said.

"This town needs recreational space," Gagnon said at the beach walk.

The discussion continued Monday night at the Board of Selectmen's regular meeting, when it broadened into a discussion of if and where a swimming pool or beach should be located in town.

"I don't think it's an appropriate place," Selectman Maggie Whitney said on Monday. "If I was a lake resident I wouldn't like to see the town up there. … It is beautiful up there."

People on the walk expressed concerns about non-residents using the beach and not taking care of it, about parking, toilet facilities and costs.

"This would not be designed to be high traffic," Gagnon said on Saturday0.

Gagnon suggested one way of covering the costs would be to have a paid membership, like the pool in Rutland. He added that if the area was maintained then there maybe fewer problems with unauthorized people accessing the area.

"We own the dam," Gagnon said. "That is the first priority to the people on this lake."

The group of both town officials and residents totaled about 50.

"We paid for the privilege to be here," said Frank Fiorentno, the president of the Watatic Lake Association. "We don't want this to create more problems then we already have."

The lake association began in 1986 to help fund weed control issues on the manmade lake. The association, which is comprised of about 100 members, pays $12,540 a year to clean out the weeds.

"It seems to me there are a lot of questions that need to be asked," said Selectman Jonathan Dennehy on Monday.

Dennehy listed many of the questions, including stating that he wanted to make sure there is a formal survey of the land.

The issue of a town beach arose for the most recent time this spring when the Focus Group proposed holding an auction of land the town has acquired through taxtitle. A couple of years ago the Selectmen agreed not to auction off a parcel of land with beachfront access, and this year realized there was an abutting piece of property that could allow parking for the area.

In May, Gagnon had suggested a walkthrough of the Lakeshore Drive properties that the town has acquired ownership of through the tax-title process.

If a town beach is not created on the property, then the parcels can be auctioned off as a joint lot or as individual lots, the town could continue to hold on to the property and do nothing with it, or could vote to conserve it.

"We have to get the most bang for our buck on the property we own," Gagnon said.

The parcels are 1.5 acres and 2.7 acres, respectively.

According to information at the Assessor's Department, the land under the pond and the water is owed by the town, as is the dam that keeps the lake from becoming swampland.

During Monday's meeting, Advisory Board Chairman Bill Johnson suggested if the lake association wanted to keep the lake private, then the town could give them the dam and the water rights.

The selectman also discussed a letter they received from the Board of Health, asking to re-open the town's swimming pool near the Bresnahan Scouting Center. They told selectmen the water quality had improved enough to reopen the area.

On the other hand, people said the dam that creates the pool area was not solid enough to create a pool area.

Resident Valerie Diagle said there was a study about 10 years ago to create a swimming area in South Ashburnham. She said the study showed it was cost prohibitive.

The selectmen decide to re-activate the Parks and Recreation Committee, with first the goal of determining if the members were still interested in being active, filling any empty slots and determining the original charter of the group.