Repaired Docks and Improved Beach in Alton Bay
 

At town meeting yesterday in Alton the voters narrowly approved monies to fix up the town beach and also to repair the town docks. Our buddy, Upthesaukee, is on the Parks and Recreation Committee and was instumental in presenting information to make this happen. Thanks!
Click here for Citizen article

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...onbaybeach.jpg
(yikes......milfoil in Alton Bay?) :(

That's great news! The beach was becoming quite an eyesore.

Thanks McDude for the Post. I was at town meeting til almost midnight Wed night, got up at 5 AM and didn't get home from work til 8:30 PM on Thurs, so I was a little too pooped to pop.


Parks and Recs had a Kiosk outside the Prospect Mtn auditorium at town meeting, with pictures of the plan, some pictures I had taken showing the poor conditon of the beach, and some antique postcard pictures of the beach (shown above in McD's post) and other shots of Alton Bay showing the beach. Thanks for your permission to use the four items from your collection, McDude. Comments were : "Great Pictures". There was a great deal of discussion, and when it came time for the vote, it was tied. Moderator Mark Northridge, in his rules for the meeting, stated he would not vote on any issue unless there was a tie, and I believe this is the first time he has had to cast the deciding vote, which he cast in favor of the article. In the vote to restrict reconsideration, the vote in favor of restricting reconsideration passed by 4 votes. Closely contested.

A brief overview of the plan is to construct a "perched" beach, meaning it will be raised with a rock retaining wall at the high water mark. The town has retained a local company to do the permitting and site plan work, and with the approval given, we can now move forward. This will be a two year plan, and the perched beach will level the existing beach, hopefully ending the erosion that has taken place. There will be two access stairs down to the water. The beach and the park will tie into one another. (Harmony Park is located immediately adjacent to the beach, so called because it was dedicated to the Barbershoppers who had their jamboree in Alton during Old Home week and also dedicated to Lester and Aida Downing plus Herbert Marsden for their work in bringing this entertainment to the town for all those years. ) There will be added grass and then sand, and a seasonal privacy fence that will be taken down in the winter. Between the park and the beach, there is over 400 feet of waterfront, and we hope that when completed in 2006, the beach will be every bit as beautiful and as much an asset to the town as the area on the west side of the bay.

Kellie Troendle, Parks and Rec Director did a powerpoint presentation on the beach article (and other P & R articles) that was very graphic and pointed out the need for the improvements.
When I spoke to the article, I spoke of the pictures of the antique postcards and how the end of the bay was "pretty as a picture" and that's what we need to do with that side of the bay. The West side (Railroad Park) including the boat docks, launch area, the grassy area with the picnic tables , brick walk way, granite benches along with the Alton Bay Community Center with its boardwalk around the building and over towards the Mt Washington dock is all truly pretty as a picture, and we just need to get the other side returned to its prior beauty and functionality. And RG, great choice of words, because I stated that we need to have that side be "eye candy, not an eye sore.".

For those residents who may read the forum and supported the article, thank you.

Dock area article is to replace four finger docks that are in poor shape and also remove the concrete walkway across the front of the finger docks and replace them with decking (I think it starts with a "t" and is a composite material). This will be done at a time after this upcoming boating season so as not to interupt the boating activities at the bay.

Here is a picture of Harmony Park and the beach, and what we want to improve for the betterment of all.

What was the reason for the yellow caution tape along the beach last year? It looked like the beach was eroding.......

From the "Citizen" article link above.....
 

"Parks and Recreation Director Kellie Troendle said the beach is a serious hazard with rotting railroad ties that once were used to hold back the sand. She said the timbers are slowly deteriorating and breaking away, leaving exposed nails and other pieces of wood jutting out.

Erosion also is a major problem at the beach and she said they hope to control it by installing the a two-foot-high rock wall with stairs leading into the water. "

Sounds like a liability issue....????

Quite correct, McD. The exposed timbers are old "timber cribs" that were installed into the beach to try to stop the erosion. they are now rotting away, are exposed, and definately pose a major liability hazard and of course are an eye sore. Here's what we are concerned with.

But as an aside, can the dogs swim in this location? While it is still closed to people? Is it technically closed to people? Could there be a spot in the new park design for dogs to swim? The boat launch is ok but really busy

The beach is not technically closed to people. There are certainly areas that are marked off currently for safety reasons outlined above. I will verify that it is ok or not ok for dogs on the beach. Certainly, as with other town property, cleaning up after one's dog(s) is required. In fact, we are looking into getting disposable "doggie cleanup bags" (for lack of a better word(s).) that we can put up at Railroad Park on the West Side of the Bay. Let you know about dogs on the beach...meeting tomorrow night.


I would not anticipate a "doggie park" at the beach. The area is wide, but very narrow, and with the current design work, I don't think there will be an incorporation of a dog area. I will pass that on as well, though.

Thanks. I always clean up after our dogs and make sure they actually go before we leave our house. The meeting is tonight? Where and what time? I think I'd like to go if people are allowed to attend.

Road crown error?
 

In comparing your latest photo with the "picture postcard" of a natural Winnipesaukee beach , you can see a huge amount of sand has "just disappeared."

For environmental reasons, sand should be reclaimed from the bay bottom -- into which the sand has been washed. (It's being done every day on Florida and Louisiana beaches and lowlands).

As I'm unfamiliar with any increased boating traffic "throw-weight" there, the multiple gullies in your latest photo suggest that rainwater runoff from the roadway is certainly a factor in the erosion.

Before adding sand, perhaps a regrading, resetting the road's crown, "re-swaling", and/or "re-culverting" will be necessary first.

Compare the two, noting the gullies: :look:

Citizen Article
 

Alton spending $45K on beach repair


By BRYAN CONNELLY
Staff Writer

ALTON — The town will spend $45,500 to upgrade the town beach in Alton Bay.

The town is in the process of building a new perch beach made of a two course Redy-Block retaining wall and stone steps leading down to the water.

Selectmen recently accepted the bid and awarded the job to Hamilton Landscaping of New Durham. The submitted bid of $45,550 includes the entire project, from preoperation/preparation of the land, excavation costs, all the way to installation of the 303 foot long wall equipped with ADA compliant handrails bolted to granite posts leading down to the water. A stonedust path leading to nearby Harmony Park is also included and will make the entire area on Route 28A a pleasant piece of the bay once again.
SEE COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE (registration required)

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...anpubbeach.jpg

45k - Ouch! But...
 

I think it will be nice to see this area revitalized!

Thanks for the update McD!

and from Emily Latella ...
 

It will be nice to see the beach cleaned up but I have to protest. I say 45K on a beach for fish, it's just too much ! I mean they have the whole lake to swim and play in, do they really need a beach to lounge around on ? at taxpayers expense ?? Why don't they take up a collection from all the other fish and try to pay for it ? And that raises another question ... why is this beach just for perch !?!? Why not for bass and salmon and sunfish too ? I mean I'd think the sunfish would really appreciate it ! Why discriminate against those other fishys, doesn't NH had a bad enough reputation for this sort of thing already ? What's next, will we be taking fishes from the cold lake and blinding them ? I say stop the racism ... errr ... fishism ! I think the executive council should investigate the whole mater. Lastly are these perch properly, shall we say, "trained" ? I mean they're used to just pooping whenever, whereever they want. What happens when they're on the beach ? Whose going to clean up the mess ? Not to mention the smell. I'm not ...

what ... what are you saying ... it's not a beach for perch ? ... it's a perched beach ... oh well, that's completely different ...

Nevermind.

beach aand view
 

I think it will be nice to have the beach repaired. However, that last big picture is an oldy. I believe the Legionairre is tied up at the gas pumps taking on fuel, and customers. Oh for the good ole days.

Excerpt from Baysider

Before Photos
 

I hope someone has some before photos for later comparison.

Here's a panorama fm the Pavillion two years ago
 

Here's a panorama of the beach and harmony park taken from the Pavillion. click on the picture to get the larger size.

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...what=allfields

and two pics from the east side