Some town residents are reeling after being unable to catch fish at a local stocked pond, and they are asking town officials to cut the lines of fellow fishermen.
The Glenville Town Board on Wednesday, Aug. 15, held a public hearing on restricting usage of The Return’s park and pond only to taxpayers of the residential neighborhood. Residents of the neighborhood fund the small park and drainage district and the town maintains the area. Some residents have petitioned town officials to close it off from the general public.
The pond is where much of the frustration is anchored. Driving into The Return, you soon see water spouting from a fountain during the warmer months. Town Supervisor Christopher Koetzle said Return residents have been stocking the pond with fish so they can then go fishing.
The problem is, the fish aren’t biting. It is said people from outside The Return are coming in, fishing the stocked pond and taking their catch home.
“Others would come and fish, so the people that paid for the fish … didn’t benefit from the pond anymore, because it was all being harvested from residents outside the district,” Koetzle said.
The supervisor said the issue has intensified as of late, and while use of the park has been an ongoing debate, the pond’s fish supply has pushed some residents to petition the town and request those who pay for the park are the ones who use it.
Cindy Vitale, of Joyous Lane in The Return, wanted to make sure the proposal wasn’t telling people to not visit The Return as a whole.
“I just wanted to make sure that visitors are free to come and go,” Vitale said.
Town Attorney Michael Cuevas said it isn’t uncommon for recreational activities to be limited to taxpayers within a park district when those residents are fully funding it. Then the park isn’t overwhelmed.
“It is not a park for people to come play baseball or go fishing,” Cuevas said.
After the meeting, Koetzle pointed to other neighborhoods that have similar restrictions, including Hemlock Hollow and Berkley Square. If the law is enacted, he said signs would likely be placed around the pond, which is encompassed by a fence, to clarify the park and pond are only for area residents to use.
The Glenville Town Board is expected to vote on the local law establishing the restrictions during its next meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 5, at Town Hall.
