WHATELY — With summer now three months away, the Tri-Town Beach Commission has set its sights on a mid-June opening date for a shortened season, while long-term projects are undertaken over the next year.
The commissioners agreed on planning for an 11-week season, to run from June 20 through Labor Day weekend. During that time, the beach will be open 10 hours a day from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Whately Commissioner Jonathan Edwards, who also serves as the town’s Select Board chairman, said the beach needs a makeover to better serve the towns — currently Whately and Deerfield, although Sunderland has been involved in the past — and to entice people to spend summer days by the water, especially younger folks and families because he doesn’t want to “perpetuate the feeling in this area that we’re an aging society.” His reasoning, he continued, is that if more people see the beach being used by large groups, then they will be more willing to spend time at the beach themselves.
“We’re top-of-the-line towns, we’re not towns that figure out how to just get by,” Edwards said. “I don’t want to go to a restaurant that has two people in it, I want to go to a restaurant that has 200 people in it.”
Over the coming year, the commission is looking at relocating threatened dwarf bulrush plants and renovating the bathrooms, among other projects such as redoing fencing and creating a picnic area.
At the top of the list of concerns are the dwarf bulrush plants, which are designated by the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife as a threatened species, according to a MassWildlife pamphlet. Before any movement or mitigation plan can be put in place, it must be approved by Natural Heritage, a branch of MassWildlife.
“The advice I continue to get is we don’t go to the Department of Environmental Protection and Natural Heritage until we have a plan for moving the dwarf bulrush,” Edwards said. “They will say no if we don’t have a detailed assessment.”
If the renovations stay on track, the commissioners plan to open the beach on Memorial Day weekend in 2023.
“Hopefully, for next year, we have our vision for using it all year,” Deerfield Commissioner Patty Pirog said. “Doing (the renovation) this year so we have a little bit more time … would be the best use of our time and the best course of action.”
In other business, the Tri-Town Beach Commission is looking to potentially re-add Sunderland back into the fold.
“Sunderland is expressing an interest,” Pirog said. “At some point, we’re going to want to talk to them about financial support.”
Sunderland’s Select Board briefly touched on the matter at its March 7 meeting, with board chairman Tom Fydenkevez expressing interest.
“If the board members don’t have a problem with it, I don’t mind working on it,” Fydenkevez said. “I think if Tri-Town could be made into a viable alternative for our town again, it would be a great thing … we can try.”