The Staffordville Lake Advisory Committee (SLAC) has been charged with finding ways to increase public access to Staffordville Lake. The lack of public access to the lake has long been a point of contention, most notably illustrated by an incident in which someone called the police on another person for launching a kayak.* At Tuesday’s Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting, committee member and President of the Staffordville Lake Association (SLA), Aaron Hoffman, presented the plan the committee devised.
The town beach located on Staffordville Lake is open to Stafford residents but only for swimming. According to the town website, “Launching boats or watercraft is not allowed. This includes kayaks, canoes, paddle boards, pedal boats, row boats, or inflatable boats of any kind.” This rule is lifted during the annual Lion’s Club Moonlight Paddle, when anyone participating in the event has to have their boats washed before putting them in the water.
The reasoning behind prohibiting people who do not live on the lake from canoeing or kayaking stems from an invasive weed problem, which many of the waterways in town struggle with. For instance, State Line Pond has also been battling invasives and their impact on the ecosystem. That group throws a yearly fundraiser to help support cleanup efforts.
According to the minutes of the SLAC meeting from October 2023, milfoil was found in Staffordville Lake in 2021. The Staffordville Lake Association (SLA) paid roughly $20,000 for surveys. The town provided $55,000 of ARPA funds, and TTM paid $3,000 to remediate the problem.
Now, Hoffman reports that Staffordville Lake currently has a “clean bill of health.” The SLAC turned to Shenipsit Lake as a model for creating a plan to allow the rest of Stafford more access to boating on the lake.
The plan Hoffman presented to the town would require residents interested in launching a canoe or kayak to enter a lottery system. He proposed that the first year would have 25 winners, each of which would have to pay $100 to secure their seasonal spot. If the pilot program works, the number of spots could increase. He also said that if the rest of the town gets paddling access to the lake, they would want help paying for mandated lake surveys.
The season would be from mid-April to mid-October, and paddling would only be allowed from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and then from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. This, Hoffman said, was due to safety concerns as residents with jet skis and motorized boats are often on the water during the middle of the day. Because the lake is narrow, it can be hard, if not impossible, for these crafts to stay the required distance from shore, making it unsafe for swimmers and paddlers alike. The proposal also included mandatory safety training for lottery winners and called for a launch to be constructed to the side of the town beach.
Lottery winners would have to bring their boats down for a cleaning at the beginning of the season and leave their watercraft there. Individual boats would be clearly marked to indicate that they belong to lottery participants. The town would provide a secure storage area that Hoffman proposed would need a town employee to monitor during the allowable paddling hours. He also suggested this would be a good program to work into a recreation program. Of course, a full rec program does not exist.
Selectman Kurt Vail suggested having one to open and close the storage area was more likely than assigning a full-time employee just to watch over the storage rack. “We have to put some trust in people,” he said, at least until there is a reason not to. Hoffman was concerned that people could take their canoes and kayaks and leave if access was not fully monitored. Arthur Guerra, also on the SLAC, pointed out that people would not likely be able to take and return their boats during the open windows. The attendant could count the boats upon opening and closing to make sure they were all there.
When First Selectman Bill Morrison asked if the lake’s residents were on board with the plan Hoffman said, “I would say probably not.” He again pointed to safety issues, and the invasive weeds.
Arthur Guerra, said, “I would be surprised if you had a wild canoeist.”
Cindy Guerra, who was also present, said that she regularly paddles on the Connecticut River and has had the opportunity to speak with DEEP officials, who she says told her that the fears about canoes and kayaks transporting milfoil are “overblown.” Because those boats dry off between uses, she said the DEEP told her bilge pumps and other boating accessories that are always wet are a bigger problem.
Hoffman acknowledged that he had also heard this but that it was a tough case to make to the homeowners who had paid to help address the problem.
In return, Cindy Guerra expressed her hesitation in supporting a budget that included money to support surveying the lake when town residents did not have full access to the lake.
The selectmen eventually resolved to move forward by assembling a working group to finalize a plan.
*Editor's Note: This article originally said, "The lack of public access to the lake has long been a point of contention, most notably illustrated by an incident in which someone called the police on another person for launching a kayak illegally." A reader pointed out that launching a canoe or kayak on the lake is not unlawful.
