SOUTHWICK — The Conservation Commission implemented several measures during its meeting on Aug. 5 in an attempt to reduce the continued overuse of the area for active, not passive, recreation to comply with the conservation restriction placed on the North Pond Conservation Area by the state.
“We could close part or all of the scenic trail,” which was one suggestion by Conservation Commission Coordinator Sabrina Pooler to limit the number of visitors who are accessing the King’s Beach area of the area on the shore of the North Pond of Congamond Lakes.
There are only three state-approved trails in the area: the scenic, main and vernal pool.
The scenic trail extends from the area’s parking lot down roughly 100 feet above King’s Beach before tracking south, where it intersects with the main trail in the south shore area.
After some discussion by the commissioners, they decided to temporarily close the scenic trail and install lightweight snow fencing where it intersects with the main trail to discourage visitors from accessing two unapproved trails that lead down to the beach and three trees that have been used for a rope swing and jumping from for decades.
Since the commission’s meeting, those three trees have been cut down, which the town had been working on removing for over a year because of the potential legal liability if someone was seriously injured or worse.
During the commission meeting, Chair Chris Pratt said the trees would be cut at chest height and left along the shore. There had been discussion in the past about dropping at least one of the trees in the North Pond, but Fisheries and Wildlife nixed that idea.
With the trees downed on the beach area, it will allow the very steep slope down to it to revegetate. Currently, most of the area around the beach is bare of nearly all vegetation.
The commission also approved posting signs on the scenic trail letting visitors know it’s closed and on the kiosk in the parking area.
The commission also approved restricting the parking lot for the area on South Longyard Road to eight vehicles.
However, the commission recognized that because the lot can accommodate more than eight vehicles, there is a need for consistent monitoring.
“We need to figure out a way to keep it at eight and enforce it,” Pratt said.
That is an issue that will be addressed by a task force the Select Board created to come up with solutions to the area’s overuse.
For the last three years, the amount of activity in the conservation area has increased steadily with visitors grilling out, starting campfires, drinking alcoholic beverages, jumping from trees along the shore of North Pond and often leaving behind trash and human waste.
All those activities are prohibited, according to the conservation restriction that was placed on the land by the state when it provided part of the funding needed to purchase the 61-acre property for $4 million in 2019, with financial assistance of the Franklin Land Trust and $1.5 million from the town’s Community Preservation Act funds.
The issue came to a head on July 13 after a brawl between visitors and local residents over loud music being played in the parking lot of the area, which is on South Longyard Road. Each space will be numbered.
Responding to the ongoing issues, the Select Board closed the parking lot, banned parking along South Longyard Road, and temporarily closed the entire 61-acre property, which is also a violation of the restriction.
While the state hasn’t pushed back on the closure, officials with the state’s Division of Fisheries and Wildlife recently walked the property with town officials to start the process of developing a plan to minimize the problematic activities there.
The town’s Chief Administrative Officer Nicole Parker said the members of the task force would be announced during the Select Board’s meeting on Monday, Aug. 12.
Pooler also suggested new town bylaws were needed to indicate what activities are allowed on the property.
She said during the meeting that the town has bylaws against drinking in public, starting fires and littering, but there is no town bylaw against using a recreational vehicle, like a dirt bike or ATV, on public property.
The use of those in the conservation area has been an issue for several years.
To minimize ATV activity, the commission approved cutting up three trees that have fallen on the vernal pool trail and leaving the debris behind.
