Users, neighbors mixed on atmosphere at Gardner Lake State Park
Aug. 5—SALEM — Depending whom you ask, Gardner Lake State Park is a quiet retreat or an accident waiting to happen.
Meriden resident Normary Vega was in the quiet camp Saturday morning as the park slowly began to fill. She sat with her extended family under a blue tent with a grill at the ready as the kids splashed in the water.
It was her second visit. She made her first hourlong trek there two weeks ago for a friend's birthday party and decided to return. Now Vega's niece wants to celebrate her birthday at Gardner Lake, too.
"I love it because it's not packed. It's safe for the kids. The water is clean. I can see my feet through the water," she said.
Other state parks, she said, like Rocky Neck Beach in East Lyme, are too crowded and too rowdy. Here, she can keep an eye on her kids from beach chairs under sunshades while Latin music plays beside her.
"I really, really love this place," she said. "So far it's my favorite."
But the park has had its share of problems over the years since the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection added a paved boat launch with parking for 54 vehicles in 2008. The place was free of charge even before the state instituted the Passport to the Parks program that eliminated parking fees in exchange for a $15 levy tacked on to all car registrations and renewals.
Years of complaints about excessive trash and alcohol consumption led to the installation of waste containers and summer-long alcohol bans that have been renewed each year since 2017. Now, concerns about those issues are being drowned out by neighbors objecting to illegal parking, trespassing and loud music from large, exterior speakers.
Sue Coffee, who owns the Sna-Z Spot recreation area on the lake, has been railing against conditions at the state park for more than 10 years. Now, she said "jet skis are taking over" and creating a safety hazard.
"It's just a matter of time before there's an accident," she said.
She blamed DEEP for not maintaining order in and around the lake. She said if the agency can't do that, it should close the park.
"You don't open up a daycare if you don't have enough people to watch the kids," she said.
Footing the Bill
Nearby homeowner Tom Craney said DEEP signs prohibiting swimming and the mooring of water vessels are routinely ignored by visitors. He described jet skis crowding the boat launch and people jumping from the dock in front of moving boats.
He recounted calls to state police because of people trespassing on his property.
He noted the Gardner Lake Authority, composed of members from Salem, Montville and Bozrah, pays for a DEEP environmental conservation police officer to patrol the lake by boat.
"The state of Connecticut created this problem and it should not be left up to the town of Salem or the lake authority to enforce," he said.
But that's what's happening, according to Salem First Selectman Ed Chmielewski. He said he has authorized overtime for the town's two resident state troopers and hired a tow truck operator to sit in the state park on Saturdays and Sundays starting this weekend.
The enhanced coverage will likely go through Labor Day at a cost to taxpayers of roughly $3,000 per weekend, according to the first selectman. That's $85 per hour for the tow truck coverage and about $130 an hour for state police overtime.
He said DEEP does not have enough staff members to send to every park and, at any given time, there might be only two EnCon police officers working in the eastern district and two or three troopers operating out of the regional state police barracks in Colchester.
"It's something that's not fair we have to foot the bill for, but we also have these quality of life issues and concerns of our residents and we have to act accordingly," Chmielewski said.
New "no parking" signs installed on Route 354 with permission from the state Department of Transportation have triggered the ability of state troopers and EnCon police to write tickets for violations on the state road.
'Intimidation factor'
Gardner Lake Authority chairman Henry Granger said Saturday that the authority budgeted $10,500 for the EnCon patrols this year.
He could not specify when or for how many hours the patrols typically occur. He said it's dependent on the weather, boat traffic and availability of EnCon officers.
"We let Encon do their stuff," he said. "They know when they need to be there. They're not going to be there on a rainy day; they're going to be there when the boat traffic is high and when they need to be."
According to the authority's May meeting minutes, EnCon patrol officers sign up to work the shifts in addition to their full work week.
DEEP spokesman Paul Copleman provided a written statement but not any figures related to how many EnCon police officers and agency staff members are assigned to the park and how many tickets have been issued.
"Our staff and EnCon police officers, who issue citations and enforce violations, will continue to work to address concerns to the best of their ability while also patrolling and responding to other area parks, forests, and state boat launches," he wrote.
He said staff members close the park to new visitors once capacity is reached, noting that parking illegally outside of the park can result in a ticket or a vehicle being towed.
Troy Marvin, owner of Reliable Auto Center in Colchester for 22 years, was in his red wrecker Saturday morning with the windows open. He said the town of Salem was paying him to sit there from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
"They don't really want us to tow a car," he said. "They're just looking for the intimidation factor that we're available."
He pointed to a car parked where only vehicles with trailers were allowed. He said he couldn't tow it even if he wanted to, since an EnCon police officer would need to provide authorization first.
"They told me there was going to be an officer here," he said. "I haven't seen him."
Marvin said he was part of a convoy brought in twice last year by the state police to address illegal parking in and around the state park, including cars on people's lawns along an adjacent road.
"They had probably 15 different wreckers. We were towing cars left and right," he said. The tow companies instead of getting an hourly rate for sitting there were compensated by the violators who had to pay about $150 to retrieve their cars at his shop.
This time it's about deterrence, he said.
"They've had so much trouble, they're willing to try anything," he said.
Chmielewski said he's heard concerns from residents at Board of Selectmen meetings and in his office, where he described the phone as ringing off the hook. He said part of his effort to coordinate with the different agencies involved a meeting Friday with EnCon police Capt. Vincent Mazzotta.
Chmielewski called the meeting productive. He cited promises of increased boat inspections that he hopes will prevent violations like unregistered jet skis.
"We had a pretty good plan going into the season — the no parking signs have been very helpful — but we're going to ramp things up a bit and get us through the season," he said.
'All voluntary'
In front of the boat launch Saturday morning, DEEP boating education assistant Baylee Gagnier of Montville was conducting vessel safety checks with another DEEP employee. They ran through the checklist on a 17-foot Polar fishing boat as owner Bronson Carter of New London answered their questions.
The employees looked at the boat's registration, checked for signs of invasive plants and ticked off a list of safety items including life vests, fire extinguishers and flares. Then they sent him on his way with a sticker indicating the passed inspection.
Bronson told The Day he tries to get out of the park by 3 or 4 o'clock on weekend afternoons before the crowds get too unruly.
"The last time there was probably between 10 and 15 jet skis all in this area, really inhibiting the use of the boat launch for its intended purpose," he said.
Gagnier, who works 40 hours a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. covering the Gardner Lake Boat Launch and several smaller boat launches, said she divides her days based on which sites need the most supervision. And Gardner Lake needs "a lot," according to the boating education assistant.
She emphasized the vessel safety checks are voluntary and DEEP education staffers don't have enforcement powers. The benefit to boaters of complying with the inspection is that they can identify any safety violations up front and rectify them before they get on the water. That's where they might find an EnCon officer with the authority to impose fines.
"It's all voluntary. We can't force it. But it can save them from getting a ticket," she said. "If something happens, that's on them. We're just here to try to protect and keep them safe as much as we can."
Gagnier, like Bronson, counted 15 jet skis at one time in front of the boat launch.
"This place gets so crowded," she said.
But some of the regulars on Saturday morning said it's peaceful more often than it's not.
Michael Branch of Norwich was sitting at a picnic table on the beach watching his kids swim. He said he's been to Rocky Neck, Misquamicut Beach in Rhode Island, Hopeville Pond State Park in Griswold and Mohegan Park in Norwich, but Gardner Lake is where his family comes the most.
"It's more quiet, more laid back," he said. "Kids get to be out there and be kids."
He said it can get crowded, but it doesn't get crazy.
"People still have their space. It's just that to see the kids, you have to stand up or get a little closer," he said.
Linda Darcy of Middlefield paddled in on her kayak to say she likes to visit Salem a couple times a year for her leisurely 2.5-hour trip around the lake. She goes in the morning before it gets too hot and the park fills up.
She said she's been coming back for seven years because of the "quiet enough" surroundings and plentiful parking.
"I don't know that it's a hidden gem, because it does fill up, but it's a gem," she said.
