Swimming hole closures ignored
WOODSTOCK, N.Y. » The town is finding it difficult to keep people away from the popular Big Deep and Little Deep swimming holes despite declaring them closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“No Parking” signs have been put up and access roads have been roped off, but “it’s not really stopping anything,” Councilman Reginald Earls said during a Town Board meeting Tuesday. “You don’t have to be a genius to figure that out when you see all the cars.”
Big Deep, on Route 212, and Little Deep, on Zena Road, are both part of the Sawkill Creek and are about three-quarters of a mile from each other. The town banned their use last month as part of the effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Woodstock Supervisor Bill McKenna said signs announcing Big Deep is closed have been removed, leaving some visitors to believe swimming is allowed. He also said parking restrictions can’t be enforced.
“The ‘No Parking’ signs that we put up are not enforceable unless we do a local law, which takes a good six to eight weeks,” McKenna said.
McKenna said tickets can be issued to drivers who park along the road with their vehicles partly in a driving lane.
“Most people are very good about getting off the road,” town Police Chief Clayton Keefe said. “What happens is one vehicle parks in the wrong place, and it seems to be like a domino effect.”
McKenna also worried about trash being left behind at the swimming holes.
“Last year ... I was down there every weekend,” he said. “I would walk in there at least once a week and beg
people to help me keep Big Deep open by taking their trash out . ... Every Monday or Tuesday I would go back in, and right where those people sat were piles of garbage.”
McKenna says trash left behind this year could create a health risk for town employees,
which was one of the reasons for closing the swimming holes.
“The part of the COVID I was concerned about was having to send the maintenance guys down there to clean up other people’s garbage,” he said. “On a good day, that’s not a pleasant task.”
Town leaders said additional options, including issuing tickets for trespassing, will be considered as part of discussions about possible enforcement actions.
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