Industry tries to ease ice fight

Thursday, February 10, 2005

By BETTY JESPERSEN
Staff Writer

Staff photo by Betty Jespersen
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The boat ramp at Clearwater Lake in Industry is being used to launch ice fishing shacks now that the town has improved the adjacent town beach, a move that has irritated some fishermen who contend it has hindered their access. That claim is disputed by officials and other anglers.

INDUSTRY -- Access onto Clearwater Lake this winter has spurred debate among some anglers and a convenience store owner who contend the town purposefully made it harder to haul ice shacks out on the lake.

That claim, however, is strongly disputed by town officials who say while they prefer trucks and trailers use the adjacent state boat ramp instead of the recently seeded town beach, they did not intentionally block the way by piling snow on top of boulders that line the entrance.

On Wednesday, as a good will gesture, the Industry Fire & Rescue Department offered to help getting shacks on or off the lake as long as the ice is safe, according to Selectman Robert Geiser, who is also a firefighter.

Robert Mallett of Farmington, who often fishes on Clearwater, said historically, trucks and snowmobiles have used the small beach area to get on the lake. The adjacent boat ramp is a poor substitute, he said, because the water flowing by there has currents that make the ice unstable.

Some trucks hauling ice shacks have managed to drive over the snow-covered boulders but it was not easy. "That boat ramp access is dangerous. ... What's a lake for? It is for all of us to use. ... People in Industry should address those rocks at the (March) town meeting."

At issue are improvements the town has made to the small beach area that was once the property of the Crystal Lake Grange. That property was bought by an abutter two years ago who then deeded the beach to the town. Last summer, the town spent about $750 to have the ground graded, loamed and seeded and granite curbing put in to prevent erosion, Geiser said. Two years ago, to keep motorized vehicles off the new grass, selectmen had boulders placed by the entrance.

Snow plows did cover the rocks with snow this winter but not intentionally to block access and vehicles can still drive over it, said Road Commissioner Joe Paradis, the town's fire chief.

"That rumor is completely inaccurate," he said. "I was not directed to put snow there. The snow is there because that is a natural progression of where the snow goes when you plow."

Paradis said that now that the town owns the beach, usage will be more controlled. "Now we have something to protect. There will be a much nicer access to the water in the summer and it is already a nice place for families to go."

Gary Smith, who owns the Ugly Moose convenience store nearby and relies on ice fishing business in the winter, said his business has dropped by 50 percent because there were fewer ice shacks on the lake.

"All I hear are complaints. People were coming in here and saying they cannot get over those rocks and the snowbank," he said.

Vern Stevens of Farmington, a longtime Clearwater Lake ice fisherman, has a large ice shack on the lake that he said he had no difficulty hauling down the boat ramp. Also, Jay ice fisherman Richard Cousins said he put his ice shack out two weeks ago using the boat ramp and had no trouble.

Selectman Caroline Eaton said the board considered removing the rocks in the winter to allow ice fishermen access to the beach on the frozen ground. The idea was quashed, however, by the town's insurance adjuster from the Maine Municipal Association who advised them that such an alteration could make the town liable in the event of an accident on the lake.