Norwich Lake residents call for new boating safety rules after fatal crash
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HUNTINGTON - A boating accident that killed a 10-year-old boy and injured his father on Norwich Lake last week is prompting calls for a ban on waterskiing and a limit on the horsepower of boat motors used on this popular Hilltown pond.
Robert and Joan Ullman Bacon, two longtime lake property owners, say more boats with more horsepower are moving at faster speeds on Norwich Lake. At the same time, more people are waterskiing, tubing, fishing, canoeing and kayaking on the 122-acre, state-owned pond, they and others familiar with the lake say.
"We believe that the circumstances on Norwich Lake are unique and support the need for additional by-laws," the Plymouth couple wrote in an Aug. 20 letter to town selectmen. "We think it is reasonable for the town to enact by-laws designed to improve the safety of everyone who uses Norwich Lake."
The request for new boating regulations came just three days after 10-year-old Augustus "Gus" Adamopoulos of Ludlow was killed while fishing with his father in a kayak on the lake. Gus was laid to rest Monday.
James Adamopoulos and his son were struck by a speedboat pulling a water-skier across the lake in the early evening Aug. 17. Steven Morse, 37, of Westfield, was the operator of the boat.
No charges have been filed, and the collision remains under investigation by state and environmental police, Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel said Tuesday.
The tragedy has troubled many who live and summer at the lake, including one man who has called for horsepower limits on motors in the past.
"The lake is just too small," said Al LaFrance, a former town selectmen who lives on Norwich Lake and spearheaded an earlier ban on personal watercraft, or Jet Skis, on the lake. "Something was going to happen sooner or later ... hopefully not that tragic."
Nearly two decades ago, LaFrance pushed for a horsepower limit that was approved by town voters, but rejected by the state environmental police. At the time, the state agency said the ban wasn't justified.
After voter approval, the state agency in 1999 rejected a ban on personal watercraft on the lake, but in 2004 approved the measure after another push by town voters.
Any new boating regulations would require approval by the state environmental police and Attorney General. While calls for personal watercraft bans on ponds and lakes are somewhat common, proposed bans on waterskiing rarely if ever come before state environmental police, according to Lt. Merri Walker of the agency's Boat and Recreational Safety Bureau.
Stirring debate
The request before Huntington selectmen is sure to stir strong debate about whether restricting water-skiing and motor horsepower is the answer to last week's tragedy on the lake.
The Norwich Lake Association's board of directors planned to meet Tuesday night to begin talking about the issue. The Board of Selectmen plans to address the Bacons' request when it meets next week.
The lake association includes members from about 70 of the 100 or so homes around Norwich Lake, many of whom earlier supported the ban on personal watercraft.
But Liz Spooner, the board's treasurer, said many lake association members are water-skiers and may not support an outright ban on the recreational activity. She said the association will likely send out a survey to determine where its members stand and how they want the group to proceed in formal talks.
Aimee Burnham, chairwoman of the Board of Selectmen, said she would like to have the Bacons, lake association representatives and town officials work together during the boating off-season to create any new lake rules.
"I think it's a shame that whenever we have something tragic, that's when we start looking at our laws," Burnham said. "I can definitely see where something needs to be done."
Seeking safety
In their six-page letter to Huntington selectmen, the Bacons contend that virtually all safety issues on the lake stem from water skiing and that limits on skiing and horsepower would make the lake safer and more accessible to all recreational users. The family has been using Norwich Lake for 70 years and are boat owners who even occasionally water ski.
Robert Bacon said he believes last week's accident was inevitable given the increased boating traffic on Norwich Lake in recent years, particularly on the weekends. Many of these boaters are towing water-skiers and tubers. Some are inexperienced, reckless and intoxicated, creating situations that are "often chaotic and sometimes dangerous," he and his wife told selectmen in writing.
"On any given day if you got out there you see a lot of close calls," Bacon said in a phone interview from Plymouth, where he lives full-time. "Everything beyond banning waterskiing is like a Band-Aid, It's not going to solve the problem."
LaFrance said along with an increase in motor boats, there also has been an increase in non-motorized, slow-moving watercraft, such as canoes and kayaks.
State boating laws regulate how boaters should operate based on the conditions around them and their proximity to shorelines and swimming areas, for example. But in most cases, they do not limit horsepower. As a protected source of drinking water, the Quabbin Reservoir is one water body where a 25 horsepower limit is in place.
In his view, LaFrance said he still believes limiting the power of boat motors is key to ensuring that Norwich Lake is a safe environment for all its users.
"It's too nice a lake and it should be used by all, but they have to do that with common sense, and a lot of times, that's lacking," he said.
Dan Crowley can be reached at dcrowley@gazettenet.com.
