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Date: 7/27/2023
SOUTHWICK — After Town Beach was closed for two weeks because of high levels of bacteria detected in the South Pond of Congamond Lake, the town decided to change the vendor testing the water to get the results quicker.
“We needed a quicker turnaround,” said Cindy Sullivan, the town’s director of senior and recreational operations, about the four days it took for the company that was testing the pond’s water to get the town the results.
The beach was closed between June 26 and July 8.
She told the Park and Recreation Commission on July 12 that because the former vendor that performed the test needed four days to return the results, and that it didn’t provide results over a weekend, it was decided to have another company, which can turn around the results in 48 hours, be used instead.
With the change, she said, if bacteria levels rise again and the Board of Health issues the close order, the 48-hour turnaround provided by the new vendor means the beach could open sooner if the bacteria levels fall back within the acceptable range.
The commission also decided against issuing season passes at the Town Beach, at least for this summer. At a commission meeting in early June, a resident suggested the town offer season passes to make it more economical for families who used the beach regularly.
Sullivan said she researched season passes offered at town beaches in Belchertown and in Granby, Connecticut.
Granby offered single individual season passes for $55 for residents, and $90 for families of five who live in town, with an additional cost of $15 per person in the same family after five. Non-residential season passes were $90 per individual and $135 per family.
In Belchertown, an individual resident season pass is $70, and for families of five or less, $110. Nonresident individual season passes were $110, and $135 for non-resident families.
Currently, town residents pay $3 per person per day, with non-residents paying $6 per day.
Sullivan said she wasn’t sure “if it’s even worth doing this year.”
She said there would be a number of new procedures that would need to be in place before starting such a system. Commissioners agreed.
Commission Chair Jeanne Reed said they would keep researching the issue and make a final decision in the fall on whether to create a season pass and what the prices for it may be.