| October 05, 2001
By TOM DUGGAN
PAYING ATTENTION
Great Pond Road resident Frank
Ragonese spoke before the board
of selectmen this week to explain
the myriad of problems he
encounters on Lake Cochichewick.
He lives directly across from the
pumping station and says he is
against opening the boat ramp
there because some people have no
respect for the area. As proof,
he circulated pictures of people
letting their dogs swim in the
lake and trash lining the shore.
He consistently picks up the
trash and monitors activity on
the lake because he has a vested
interest in keeping his
neighborhood clean. He also takes
notice of those who do not have
the proper boating permits as
well as others who violate the
town by-laws. The question here
is: why does Mr. Ragonese have to
do this?
The people of North Andover pay
enough money in taxes that they
shouldn’t have to go out and
patrol their neighborhoods like
this. Speakers on both sides of
the boat access issue disagreed
on the proper uses of the lake.
They disagreed with each other on
the condition of the lake. They
even disagreed on the possible
solutions. One thing which
unified all of them, however, is
that lack of bylaw enforcement is
causing the bulk of problems on
lake Cochichewick.
Gas powered motors are clearly
prohibited on the lake, yet more
than one resident told the board
they see private boat owners
using gas powered engines. The
bylaws prohibit swimming, yet Mr.
Ragonese has pictures of dog
owners taking their pets to swim
in the lake. Every boat on the
lake is supposed to have a permit
from the town, a whopping cost of
$5 per boat for the year. Yet,
many boats on shore have no
permit.
Ragonese wants to prohibit boat
launching at the pumping station
because, with no enforcement of
existing by laws, he is the one
who has to take time out of his
busy schedule to clean the mounds
of trash which sit in plain view
of his house. While I sympathize
with Ragonese, I believe there is
another solution.
The DPW should be directed by the
town manager to keep that area
clean on a regular basis. After
all, it is their job. There
should also be a compliance
officer monitoring the types of
boats using the lake and checking
to see that each of them have the
proper permit.
When the board of selectmen or
residents at town meeting pass a
new bylaw there should be an
automatic system in place to
measure the cost of enforcement.
There should also be a mechanism
in place to implement enforcement
of those by laws the minute these
they go into effect.
While it is honorable for Mr.
Ragonese to spend time cleaning
the shoreline and monitoring the
lake, the money he pays to the
town in property taxes should
already cover such services.
Selectman Jim Xenakis suggested
the possibility of hiring a
compliance officer to patrol the
lake to be sure that people do
not abuse the area. He is right.
There are always going to be
people who disregard the law.
Bylaws are only words on a piece
of paper if there is nobody to
hold people accountable for
breaking them.
A compliance officer would
satisfy the wishes of people on
both sides of the boat access
issue. Mr. Ragonese wouldn’t
have to worry about the condition
of his neighborhood, the boaters
and fishermen would be able to
use the lake responsibly and the
selectmen would be able to spend
their time on more important
issues.
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