Cortland Standard .net

By COLLEEN SIUZDAK
Staff Reporter
csiuzdak@cortlandstandard.net
SCOTT — Some Glenn Haven Road residents near Andrew R. Fuller Park are concerned about possible adverse impacts of expanding the town park, such as an influx of people and possible lack of oversight over boating in Skaneateles Lake.
The town has started a project to upgrade the Andrew R. Fuller Park located on Glenn Haven Road, planning to add nature trails, a picnic area and new trees in the hopes of attracting more Cortland County residents to use the area.
Eight senior students from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry will take charge of the planning part of the project to help develop trails and other features in the park.
One of the improvements includes adding boat slips near the boat launch for rentals.
But Joan Robinson, who lives near the park, said Friday morning she is concerned the development of the park will increase the number of boaters and she questioned who would be in charge of monitoring them.
In particular, she is concerned that residents bringing their boats to the launch could carry on them some type of invasive species that would enter Skaneateles Lake.
“I am concerned about the things like the milfoil ... that get into the lake,” Robinson said, referring to an invasive weed that spreads in lakes. “There’s very few public places (in Cortland County) where you can put a boat in the water. People coming in need to be monitored.”
Town Supervisor Kevin Fitch said Friday afternoon the Skaneateles Lake Association provides help for the town launch to make sure people clean off their boats.
Fitch said the town is also looking to have a boat cleaning station, a possibility to help with the number of boats coming in.
“It is something that is in the design (plans) because that was a concern that we had.”
Fitch had previously said a time frame for actual construction is still unknown.
Robinson said she was also concerned the town board was using the park as a means to make revenue, which she is not sure is an “appropriate” use.
In August 2014, the town switched the $5 boat launch fee from a suggested donation to a mandatory fee since it was collecting little through donations.
“A lot of people didn’t pay (previously) then at night there would be vandalism and the lock box kept getting broken into,” Robinson said.
Fitch said Alfred Coon, a resident across from the park, monitors the donation box and so far, things are working out. He has also said in previous interviews with the Cortland Standard, the money is used to help maintain the park. Fitch said the 2014 season brought in almost $6,000 because of Coon’s monitoring.
Coon said Friday afternoon that he is not concerned about people trying to get the money in the box because he takes it out every night to avoid that problem.
“I was tending the launch ramp and at the end of the day I removed the money out of the box and that eliminated the incentive for someone to break in,” Coon said.
One of his concerns, however, is the addition of boat slips at the launch because of people possibly leaving their boats there overnight.
“In the past, we had vandalism down there,” Coon said. “I’m afraid if they do that, people’s boats would be broken into and stuff stolen out of them.”
He added there may not be enough room to add those slips and he does not think the town should.
Fitch said the town would hire summer help to monitor the boats, and maintain the area through lawn care so Coon would not have full responsibility for maintenance.
Despite their concerns, Robinson and Coon think the park is an asset to their community and do not want to downplay its benefits.
“On the other hand, the kids are down there and you hear the laughter and the playing of the kids,” Robinson said. “That’s a delightful sound.”
Coon, a dedicated fisherman, also had good things to say.
“There’s a lot of nice things here for people to enjoy and of course in the spring the banks are lined with fishermen over here,” Coon said. “It’s a nice thing.”
There will be a meeting on the matter at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Town of Scott United Methodist Church, Route 41. There will be a discussion about the flood map revision with engineer Rick White who conducted the revision study. At 7 p.m., the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry class will be giving a presentation of the draft Park Development Project.