ATHOL — At its meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 9, Athol’s Selectboard received a briefing from Town Manager Shaun Suhoski on the town’s efforts to address issues that were recently brought to the board’s attention by residents living in the vicinity of Lake Ellis. The two main issues were the effects of beaver activity in and around culverts that carry outflow from the lake beneath Route 2 and the need for better aquatic weed control.
“The area around those culverts,” said Suhoski, “has proven (to be) a prime location, when the rains come and the beavers are active; it backs up the water into Lake Ellis, up onto the beach, over Beach Street. It creates quite a hazard in the neighborhood and puts private property at risk as well.”
Suhoski said a “major storm event” last year resulted in extremely high lake levels to the point that Beach Street was overtopped. MassDOT (state Department of Transportation) was contacted in the wake of the storm and, according to Suhoski, committed to removing beaver impoundments and debris in the area of the culverts — work that was completed in early summer. The state’s response, he reported, “immediately helped to alleviate the flooding concerns.”
“Of course,” he continued, “there’s been a drought, so instead of too much water, we have very low water levels.
“What’s been lacking is, last November they indicated they were going to budget and plan for a beaver deterrent. This spring, we learned it would be for the middle culvert. They were going to install grating or fencing which would, hopefully, prevent debris from building up and always having that channel clear.
“But the spring came and went. A couple more emails from me came and went. And the last two responses (indicated) they’re asking the vendor for a timeline on when this grating or fencing will be installed. As of today, before this meeting, there’s been no change in that.”
At this point, board Vice Chair Rebecca Bialecki interjected, “Mr. Chairman, I’d like to make a motion that we support our town manager in reaching out the state Legislature to get off their behinds and follow through on what they’ve promised us.”
The motion was quickly seconded and then approved unanimously.
Regarding the town’s response to problem beavers, Suhoski noted, “The good news, which you’ve heard before, there is funding in the FY23 budget for wildlife management, which specifically was intended to include beaver management as well.”
The amount included in the budget for that purpose is $5,000, according to Suhoski. He encouraged any resident wishing to report problems due to beaver activity around the lake to contact either his office or that of the Department of Public Works.
He then moved onto the issue of weed management.
“We have $50,000 for weed treatment, and there was a remainder of about $4,000 from an appropriation about four or five years ago. The DPW is using that to initiate the notice of intent process. They’ve retained Solitude Lake Management; they’ve initiated that with the Conservation Commission. That’s for Lake Ellis, and we’re also looking at Silver Lake as well. So, there will be a treatment plan in the spring 0f 2023.”
John Robertson of Friends of Lake Ellis, who brought concerns of the organization to the Selectboard in mid-May, said, “I want to say ‘thanks’ for your work. We know it’s not the only project you’re working on, and we appreciate that.
“When we do get the state to go in there and take care of the culverts,” he continued, “if the beavers can’t damage it there, they’ll just go to the south, and we just want to make sure that’s being addressed.”
Public Works Director Dick Kilhart responded, noting the town had been given permission to access privately-owned pieces of property, if necessary, to take care of any beaver problem that may arise in those wetlands. He did note, however, that permission would first need to be received from the conservation commission to remove any beaver dams downstream.
“Right now,” he continued, “it’s not an issued because we’re in extreme drought, Level 3 here in central Mass. The water level is lower than I’ve ever seen it up there. And we’ve encouraged MassDOT because this would be a great time to get their grates in there because it’s probably not going to get any lower than it is right now.”
Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com