Select Board uncomfortable over opening Silver Lake Beach without lifeguards
Silver Lake Beach would be socially distanced and patrolled by park rangers this summer under a Recreation Department plan.
But those rangers — even if they knew CPR, even if they had already worked at a lifeguard during a previous summer — would be dissuaded from using their rescue skills.
“We are going to be using our current lifeguard staff… it wouldn’t be appropriate for them to act as lifeguards,” Recreation Director Jennifer Andersen told the Select Board Tuesday night.
Access to Silver Lake was shut down by COVID-19 in summer 2020 and the plan for 2021 calls for a limited reopening.
Gone are swimming lessons, the dock, and the raft. Only eight families would be allowed on the beach at a time, three feet apart, during four time slots a day, and no one would be allowed to visit more than three times a week.
Select Board members agreed with the spacing and, to an extent, the fees. The issue at hand was something which they could not control: the concept of a public beach without lifeguards.
“For me, I’m just having a hard time with the park ranger concept. You’re hiring the same staff,” Select Board member Colleen Roy said. “Someone may be trained in CPR and may be told not to use it?”
Under the “Swim at your own risk” protocol, Andersen, as always, would reach out to past beach staff and others. But instead of lifeguards, they would be park rangers, which would allow for four people on call — two on the beach, two on the parking lot — as opposed to the usual staffing of 6-8 lifeguards, plus a head lifeguard.
Unlike lifeguards, park rangers would not need to be certified in CPR, would require less PPE, and they would respond to emergencies by calling 911.
Town Counsel Ginny Kramer also suggested that opening the beach completely without fees, save for parking, would leave the town not liable for injuries as long as signage indicated people would be swimming at their own risk.
“Wellesley ran with it last year, and they thought it worked out great,” Andersen said.
By adding rangers, the beach would be monitored and staff exposure to Covid would be limited, she added. “We don’t want to be putting a 17-year-old kid to be put at risk doing CPR.”
Grafton residents were unhappy with the plan on social media and the Select Board received letters asking for lifeguards.
Adding to the issue: Silver Lake Beach usually operates at a loss and fees have not been raised in years.
Select Board member Ed Prisby said when he worked as a lifeguard as a teenager, locations like Silver Lake Beach with its dark water used to terrify him. Relying on parents to have the ability to quickly respond and have the skills to safely rescue a child would be dangerous, he said.
“Can you imagine the outcry?” he asked. “What human being is going to stand there and say ‘oh, that’s not part of the protocol.’ Lifeguards are first responders. That’s just the way it is.”
While Andersen wanted to have the fees approved by the Select Board Tuesday, they opted to vote on the matter at the March 16 meeting. They instructed her to reach out to staff and return with more clarity on the fee structure and how that would determine staffing levels.
A fully staffed beach with lifeguards would be a $90,000 loss based on how many residents could attend under Covid protocols, Anderson said.
“I don’t like the idea of wasting money, but I don’t think if it’s wasting money if it means saving a life,” Roy said.
