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Residents, Selectmen in Town of Industry Spar over Lake Access

March 13, 2011 - Industry — Residents at the annual Town Meeting said cars and trucks can keep driving on a public beach to get to a lake that is a favorite ice fishing spot in Industry.


They defeated a warrant that would have prohibited cars and trucks from driving on the town-owned beach on Clearwater Lake.


Many of the approximately 50 residents in attendance called the warrant unfair because it took away the only public access for people who love to go ice fishing on the lake but don't own lakefront property.


Selectmen said they included the warrant because it costs town taxpayers money every year to repair damage to the beach.


Vehicles tear up the beach every spring when they haul ice houses off the lake, and the repairs are becoming more expensive each year, Selectman Lee Ireland said. It cost taxpayers $1,000 last year to repair the beach, and that is expected to jump to $2,500 this year, he said.


There are state laws against letting erosion damage lead to soil and other sediment spilling into the lake, Ireland said. The repairs also benefit the many people who use the beach in the summer and spring, he said.


"It's not the selectmen against the fishermen; it's not about the summer people against the fishermen," Ireland said. "It's about: Do you still want to pay to clean up the beach?"


After defeating the warrant Saturday afternoon, residents approved paying $2,500 for the repairs this year. They voted from the floor and only a handful of residents opposed either issue.


Many residents also asked town officials to look into ways to limit the damage. They discussed placing mats over the beach in the winter, and town officials said the issue could be brought up at next year's Town Meeting.


Residents didn't make any cuts to the $386,742 budget proposed by selectmen this year. It's a 1.77 percent increase from last year's budget of $380,028. Higher winter road spending and other minor changes from last year's budget caused the increase, according to town officials.


Residents re-elected Ireland in voting Saturday, and started the meeting with a presentation to Joseph Paradis Jr., the longtime fire chief who retired this year after 20 years leading the Industry Fire Department.


Rick Tibbetts is the new fire chief.

David Robinson, Morning Sentinel, March 2011


Lakes: Clearwater Pond
Regions: Belgrade


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