Here today, gone tomorrow–For a while! The jersey barriers will be removed from the Halifax boat ramps so that residents can remove their water crafts. The scenic view belies the fact that bacteria has been blooming in the waters of West Monponsett Pond. Photo by Deb Anderson.
The Town of Halifax will remove the barriers to the boat ramps on Route 58 (Monponsett Street) and Lingan Street/4th Avenue on a temporary basis from Friday, October 9 to Monday, October 12 to allow boat owners to remove their boats from Monponsett Pond. The barriers will go back into place on Tuesday, October 13.
Jersey barriers were put in place at the beginning of October at the Route 58 boat ramp and the Lingan Street/4th Avenue boat ramp in order to prevent easy access to the ramps. This was done because, despite having signage up indicating that West Monponsett Pond is unsafe to use for recreational purposes (swimming, boating, fishing), many people have continued to use the Ponds. The barriers will be removed if two consecutive weekly samples show algae counts of less than 70,000 per milliliter. The counts this year have been significantly less than last year but still above this limit so the advisory has been in place since the middle of July.
While the Town has put up barriers at these two locations, there are other locations for which the Town does not have jurisdiction and there are a number of residents with docks or other means of obtaining access to West Monponsett Pond. The Town will not be patrolling West Monponsett Pond, ticketing or fining anyone, but wants to discourage residents and non-residents from using the Pond due to health concerns.
East Monponsett Pond will continue to be open for all uses.
If anyone has questions, please contact Town Administrator Charlie Seelig at 781-294-1316.