Should it stay or should it go?

Whether the town should retain or remove the recently installed designated swimming area at Middle Beach has become a controversial issue among some residents of the Middle Beach Association area along Salt Island Road. After the buoys and floats that define the boundaries were installed, residents of the area called First Selectman Noel Bishop’s office to complain. Some said it ruined their view of the offshore island.

Now, at a Wednesday, Aug. 19, meeting, members of the public will be able to tell the selectmen their views about Middle Beach directly.

It was the Middle Beach Association through President Ann Mazur that first asked the Board of Selectmen in Aug. 2014 to apply to the State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) for approval to put a designated swimming area at Middle Beach. The need for the physical barrier was to separate the users of boats and jet skis from Middle Beach’s swimmers for safety reasons.

The selectmen agreed to support an application and the town’s request was approved by DEEP in spring 2015.

Rich Annino, the town’s Parks & Recreation director, was asked by Bishop to secure the DEEP-required buoys and floats needed to define the designated swimming area. Complaints began to roll in to the first selectman’s office after these safety items were installed in June.

The laundry list of issues included these comments: The floats on the swim area boundary lines were too massive, the buoys and float lines were ugly and degraded the previously unobstructed views of the offshore island from Middle Beach and from the homes that overlook it, the designated swim area and its float lines should be removed, and the public port-a-potty placed at the beach due to its designation as a public swimming area should be removed, too.

To air these complaints and take other public comments, the Board of Selectmen held a late July meeting on Middle Beach’s status. During that meeting, it became clear that most in attendance did not like the new designated swimming area and wanted it removed.

The 2015 summer season is the first season during which Middle Beach has had a formally designated public swimming area. Before this season, Middle Beach was still a public beach with public parking, but did not have a designated swimming area. Middle Beach has been open for public use for more than 50 years.

A special public meeting of the Board of Selectmen to decide the fate of Middle Beach and its public swimming area is now set for Aug. 19 at 5:30 p.m. at the Mulvey Municipal Center. The meeting is open to the public and will begin with a public comment period. All members of the public, both residents and non-residents of the Middle Beach Association area, are invited to attend.