AMHERST – Despite installation in 2015 of new fences to keep people from climbing onto the ledge at Puffer’s Pond, the town’s Conservation Department staff continue to find people using the cliff as a platform to dive into the water more than 20 feet below.
Last weekend, police were twice called by conservation staff to the outcrop at the North Amherst pond.
On Saturday at 4:46 p.m, police used a public address system to order people down from the cliff, while on Sunday at 2:38 p.m. cliff divers had already fled.
Upon inspection of the area, officers determined the fences and orange no-trespassing signs are not sufficient to deter people from climbing to the top of the cliff and then jumping into the pond.
Assistant Town Manager David Ziomek said Wednesday that a summer conservation crew will try to remove people on their own if dangerous activity is observed.
“We discourage people from doing it, but we can’t keep people off the cliff 100 percent of the time,” Ziomek said. “We can’t be there 24/7.”
The area was first posted with no-trespassing signs 30 years ago, but budget cuts have meant more limited presence of town staff, and there are no lifeguards at the pond. In 1989, three years after the posting, a person died after diving off the cliff and then going over the dam.
The town’s website informs visitors to the pond that trespassers, if caught, will be prosecuted.
Ziomek said there are similar challenges with the sunbathers on top of the 32-foot-tall dam, another area of the pond where people are not supposed to venture due to the dangers of a fall.
Meanwhile, the hot weather last weekend also saw vehicles lined up on both sides of State Street from Sand Hill Road to Bridge Street. Police responded but could only issue tickets to vehicles parked in a no-parking zone closer to the Silver Bridge.
A Puffers Pond 2020 report in 2010 recommended creating a parking area east of the pond near the entry to the Kevin Flood trailhead, mandating parking passes during the spring, summer and fall and creating an annual pass for use of the site.
Ziomek said no changes are planned for this summer and that people should do their best to park at the edge of the road and leave sufficient space for emergency vehicles to pass, as well as walkers, bicyclists and other cars.
Any changes to parking, or making State Street a one-way road, would not be started until work is ready to begin on the Mill Street Bridge, which has been closed to vehicles since July 2012. The state plans to rebuild the bridge for one-way traffic next year.
“Any work to formalize the parking on State Street or make State Street one way will come in a package with replacement of the Mill Street Bridge,” Ziomek said.
For now, Ziomek said Puffer’s Pond will remain an attractive place because it is one of the few spots in the region where no admission or parking fees are charged to swimmers.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
