Selectmen turn a blind eye to Glen Lake problems
Board votes 4-1 to preserve "Welfare Beach" as it is

On Monday night, selectman Steve Fournier made a motion to turn the Glen Lake Waterfront park into a Town Beach.  The motion included the following:

• The beach area would be restricted to access by residents only;

• 18 parking spaces along Elm Street would be reserved for residents only by displaying a Transfer Station sticker, or by simply placing the vehicle's registration up on the dashboard;

• The boat ramp - and access to the lake - would remain open to anyone;

• Across the street, four spaces for vehicles towing trailers would be reserved for residents only; the remaining three would be open to anyone.

If passed, it would mean:

• N.H. Fish and Game would have continued to stock Glen Lake (this was verified with NHF&G);

• N.H. Marine Patrol would have continued to enforce the law on Glen Lake (this was verified with NH Marine Patrol);

• Goffstown residents would have much greater access to the beach area and parking spaces;

• Goffstown residents would no longer be paying for cleanup and maintenance of an area they can rarely access or use themselves.

It seemed like a no-brainer to me.  Unbelievably, the motion failed by a vote of 1-4 (Fournier was the lone vote in favor).

The biggest opponent to the motion?  Phil D'Avanza of course.

D'Avanza's arguments against the motion can only be considered obtuse.  They ran everywhere from claiming Glen Lake would no longer be stocked by Fish and Game (a claim he knew to be false) to saying the motion would guarantee 18,000 residents with three parking spaces each at the waterfront.  How ridiculous.

Equally uninformed was Scott Gross' subsequent motion to reserve half the Elm Street parking spaces for residents, leaving the other half open to the public, which also failed.  What was that supposed to accomplish?

It's painfully obvious that D'Avanza, Gross, David Pierce and Nick Campasano either have no clue of the problems at Glen Lake (see my original proposal outlining the issues there), or they simply chose to turn a blind eye to them.

They have done so at taxpayer expense.

We all know Glen Lake is overrun each summer day by non-residents.  To claim otherwise is to ignore the truth.  We also know about the incredible mess that is left there every day for our tax dollars to pay to clean up, the inability for residents to find a parking space there and the constant violations of the Glen Lake Beach Ordinance.

Last Saturday at 4:15 PM, while in my boat, I went by the Glen Lake Beach.  As soon as I was within sight of it, I was greeted by the barking of two pit bulls tied to two trees.  In between them were two gentlemen sitting at the shoreline in beach chairs with a cooler between them and sub sandwiches in their laps.  As I went by, they both graciously said hello by hoisting their Bud Light bottles in the air.  The dogs continued to bark.  Alcohol and glass containers...

I parked my boat further towards the boat ramp and walked up to the road.  There was a single car parked along the waterfront.  It had no Transfer Station sticker in the windshield.

A half hour later, the car was gone.  So were the two distinguished visitors.  But they left behind a few presents for Goffstown taxpayers right there at the shoreline: Eight empty Bud Light bottles and the wrappers from their sub sandwiches.  Oh, and the dogs each left presents there for us, too.

But, fellow taxpayers, thanks to these four selectmen, we can all look forward to the following:

• Continued cleanup costs for a beach area few of us can use;

• Continued maintenance costs for a waterfront park few of us can use;

• Continued inability to find a parking space at a beachfront we all pay for;

• Continued violation of the trash and littering sections of the Glen Lake Beach Ordinance;

• Continued violation of the glass container section of the Glen Lake Beach Ordinance;

• Continued violation of the alcoholic beverage restriction of the Glen Lake Beach Ordinance;

• Continued parking violations in nearby areas.

Looks like it'll continue to be business as usual at Welfare Beach.

Guy Caron can be reached via e-mail at: GuyC@GoffstownResidentsAssociation.com

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