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Date: 8/5/2022
SOUTHWICK – Town officials have expressed interest in establishing liaisons between the Conservation Commissions of Southwick and Suffield, CT, due to concerns over some projects that have taken place near the shoreline on the Connecticut side.
Select Board Chair Russ Fox said that he recently took a boat tour of Congamond Lake with Police Chief Robert Landis, who also serves as the town’s harbormaster. On that tour Fox said they discussed concerns raised by Lake Management Committee Chair Dick Grannells over projects being done at the water’s edge in Suffield.
“We came up with the idea to reach out to Suffield and have liaisons between our Conservation Commissions,” said Fox during the July 25 Select Board meeting.
Congamond Lake is largely administered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and residents on the Connecticut side of the lake are required to receive the same licensing from Massachusetts as those in Southwick when it comes to boating and docks.
“A lot of the time it kind of falls through the cracks when people in Connecticut are doing work that affects Massachusetts water,” said Grannells on July 26.
He said what often happens is that Southwick’s Conservation Commission and town officials are not made aware of work or development taking place along the Connecticut shoreline until they happen to stumble upon it while boating. Grannells and Fox each said that they want a more open dialogue between the two communities in order to better preserve the lake.
“We want to be a part of it if someone is planning to do something near the water,” said Grannells.
He suggested liaisons from both communities that would attend the other community’s Conservation Commission meetings to better understand what is happening on the opposite shorelines.
Grannells also said that Southwick has a “stronger” Conservation Commission than Suffield’s, in that Southwick’s has legal authorities such as issuing work stoppages in the event of active violations.
Fox said that even though the lake is administered by Massachusetts, residents on the Connecticut side of the water still bear responsibility for keeping the lake clean and preserved.
“Even though the lakes are a great pond and property of Massachusetts, homeowners on the Connecticut shoreline have to do their part as well to keep the lake up to snuff and in compliance,” said Fox.
Suffield’s Conservation Consultant Keith Morris said that he typically informs Southwick’s town planner or town clerk when work is being done within 100 feet of the shoreline, as is required, though he said that work on Suffield land near the lake is usually only Suffield’s decision.
“Usually the work, if it is on the land on our side of the lake, is our jurisdiction,” said Morris.
He added that he would reach out to his new counterpart in Southwick, Conservation Coordinator Sabrina Pooler, to improve communications between the two communities.