Southwick boat-ramp fees rise to $10; sunken truck slated for May removal

SOUTHWICK -- April 9, 2026, Southwick's Lake Management Committee raised boat-ramp launch fees from $8 to $10 and set a May 18 target for removing a sunken truck from Middle Pond. The fee increase, effective immediately, was authorized by the state Office of Fishing and Boating Access after the committee submitted three years of financial data showing the program would run a deficit by 2027 without a rate adjustment; committee facilitator Dick Grannells confirmed all signs and payment slips have already been updated. The committee also confirmed Solitude Lake Management as its invasive-plant treatment contractor under a new three-year agreement, reviewed proposed Chapter 75 bylaw changes that would raise lake-vehicle penalties from $50 to $200, and discussed a $6,000-per-year continuous water-quality monitoring buoy developed from Woods Hole research, a pilot the committee did not fund but agreed to pursue by first identifying protected placement locations on South Pond and Middle Pond.