WENDELL — Town officials are brainstorming ways to combat disruptive activities near the pond at the bottom of West Street.

Mary Thomas, of the Wendell Conservation Commission, addressed the Selectboard last week to say she would like to find a solution to the Fiske Pond Conservation Area’s overuse during the summer. She said visitors often overstay and abuse their welcome, and recently someone ignited fireworks there. She said she believes limiting the number of parkers is the only way to limit guests.

“The previous police administration did not wish to ticket people who were parked along West Street, outside of the designated parking lot,” Thomas said.

The Wendell Police Department no longer exists. On Oct. 15, 2020, Wendell entered into an inter-municipal agreement with Leverett for that town’s Police Department to provide services in Wendell. Scott Minckler is the police chief for both communities.

Laurie DiDonato, who chairs the Wendell Selectboard, wondered if people — either exclusively non-residents, or both residents and non-residents — could be charged a fee to park at the conservation area.

“Who’s going to enforce it?” Selectboard member Gillian Budine asked rhetorically, with DiDonato agreeing.

“Who’s going to collect the money?” Town Coordinator Glenn Johnson-Mussad, who attended the meeting remotely, then asked, also rhetorically.

Thomas said police-issued warnings might be fruitful. But Budine mentioned there is reason to believe most of the offenders are out-of-towners and “might not be regular visitors.”

Later in the meeting, after Thomas had left, the Selectboard welcomed Sgt. Steven Gould — who was filling in for Minckler — to talk about parking for people with disabilities at Town Hall. The Selectboard asked him for his input on the Fiske Pond issue and he said when he worked on Cape Cod for 10 years, officers resorted to issuing parking tickets when beachside residents complained about vehicles.

Gould warned, however, that issuing tickets makes a lot of additional work for a town clerk, because tickets can be contested. He said some clerks chose to forgive contested tickets, but if word of that gets out, people will know there are no repercussions and it defeats the purpose of a ticketing policy.

“It’s something you’ve got to follow through with,” Gould said.

Selectboard members agreed more “homework” must be done on the matter.

A list of Fiske Pond Conservation Area rules are listed on the town’s website. The area is open from dawn to dusk. Fires, camping and all motorized vehicles are prohibited within the conservation area, as are alcohol and amplified music. Guests are also prohibited from hunting, fishing or trapping, and they are asked to carry out what they bring in, as there are no trash cans.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.

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