Ahead of Summer Season, Callahan Advocates For Park Safety Bill

New Fairfield— Ahead of the summer recreational season, State Representative Pat Callahan (R-New Fairfield) is continuing his effort to strengthen safety awareness for patrons at Squantz Pond. He has been working with area legislators to advocate for H.B. 5009 An Act Concerning the Public Safety Capacity of Squantz Pond State Park.  According to Callahan, the bill has been placed on the House Calendar for action. The General Assembly has until Wednesday, June 7, to debate and vote on the bill for it to become law.

Prior to the start of boating and swimming season, Callahan is reminding park patrons of safety guidelines.

Boating guidelines can be found by clicking here.

Swimming guidelines can be found here.

The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is boosting starting pay for lifeguards to $20/hour as the unofficial start to summer, Memorial Day, is now less than two months away. There are 12 positions open at Squantz Pond. The deadline to apply to be a lifeguard is May 11.

“New Fairfield officials have been asking for assistance to ease overcrowding and overflow issues for years and the aim of this bill is to keep all visitors to our beautiful state parks safe. Once parking at Squantz reaches capacity, sometimes as early as 8am, the lot closes. That leads to illegal parking on private property, trespassing on Fire Department property, and pedestrians walking along the curvy State Route 39, which doesn’t have shoulders,” said Callahan.

In addition to water safety, New Fairfield officials have expressed concern about traffic safety.

“There are no shoulders leading to the park along Route 39 and people have been walking, in groups, as cars drive by at more than 40mph. So far, we’ve been lucky that no pedestrians have been struck, but we shouldn’t wait for a tragedy and be reactive; we can and should take preventative steps to keep state park visitors safe.”

Under this bill, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection would be required to establish a safety capacity and closure of the park to more visitors, regardless of entry by vehicle or on foot.

“In response to 13 drowning deaths at Squantz Pond State Park between 1996 and 2007, DEEP made safety improvements to the swim area and determined that 250 cars is proxy for the maximum number of guests that can be safely accommodated. Electronic signs along the highway warning that the park is closed have not deterred walk-ins,” noted Callahan.

There are several factors for DEEP to consider, including the number of visitors that can be safely supervised based on staffing, parking capacity, if pedestrian safety would be threatened by traffic volume, and if the number of vehicles parked along the road would impede emergency vehicle travel.