Lake?s future rooted in compromise

When he agreed to head the volunteer committee responsible for maintaining Bonnifield Beach, Bob Klauber anticipated a quiet summer.

?I thought we?d have a quiet summer. We wouldn?t ask to make changes, we wouldn?t ask to add anything. We?d simply enjoy the lake,? Klauber said.

He had no idea that almost as soon as he agreed to spearhead volunteer efforts, he?d find himself at the forefront of a heated debate that ultimately will determine the fate of Bonnifield Lake and beach.

Since the July 12 drowning of Jesse Harl at the lake, Klauber has been thrust into the limelight as the spokesman for beach proponents - a job he says he isn?t really suited for but has accepted because he loves the beach.

?I?m not a political person,? Klauber said. ?Certainly, I don?t enjoy the controversy or the conflict.?

Bob and his wife Susan use the beach daily. Bob stepped forward when he learned Frank Wintroub, who initially spearheaded volunteer efforts at the beach, was ready for a break.

Originally, the beach was Wintroub?s baby.

Wintroub beams as he leafs through photos of the beach being constructed. In many ways, he sounds like a proud father as he explains how the beach went from pipe dream to operational in a relatively short time.

It was approximately 2002 when Ron Blair asked Mayor Ed Malloy to form a committee to explore the potential for recreational uses of the city?s three reservoirs, Wintroub recalls. Due to turbidity issues, the city stopped drawing water from the reservoirs in 2000, instead drawing water exclusively from three Jordan wells.

?The committee was a diverse and representative group,? Wintroub said. ?We had a Boy Scout leader, the director of park and rec, the mayor, Ron Blair, Ron Meyers and a couple of ministers. Like I said, it was a bi-partisan group, if you would call it that.?

The committee held many meetings and had lots of discussions, Wintroub said. Eventually, they developed a survey to find out the recreational priorities of Fairfield?s citizens. Seven thousand surveys were distributed; 1,700 were returned.

?It took us six months just to count them,? Wintroub said.

In the end, the surveys showed the top three amenities Fairfield citizens wanted were better fishing opportunities, a trail system and a beach.

The committee moved forward with the lake project, presenting drawings of the proposed beach facility to the park and recreation board and the Fairfield City Council. The committee applied to receive a portion of Local Option Sales Tax revenue to help fund the project, but Wintroub personally sought donations of labor and materials to make the beach installation feasible. In June 2004, 1,500 tons of sand were delivered to Waterworks Park - a gift from Jefferson County Quarry. After hiring a sand slinger to distribute the sand on the beach and in the lake, volunteers and hired help spent a day and a half laying a foot-deep bed of sand on the beach area and on a swimming area that measures 80 feet by 100 feet. Two berms also were built to prevent the beach from eroding.

Wintroub?s dedication to the project paid off when the beach opened in July 2004.

?Frank has really poured himself into this project in every way,? Bob Klauber said.

Beachgoers say the beach filled a definite void in the community. Prior to the beach opening, many of the people who use it frequently were traveling on weekends to camp and swim at other state parks.

?When they opened this beach, I cannot tell you what it meant to me,? Susan Klauber said.

?We don?t have to travel anymore,? she said. ?For me, it puts Fairfield on the map as a beautiful place.?

It?s a beautiful place that has been, however, mired in controversy. Squabbles over beach rules, designated swimming areas and a dock near the dam that was finally removed due to safety issues have plagued the popular swimming hole. Harl?s drowning has only turned up the heat on a debate that has been raging on and off for a decade.

Police and fire officials and the park and recreation committee have asserted swimming in the lake is not safe. They want the beach to be closed. Monday night, Police Chief Julie Harvey expressed frustration with the city council, alleging input from the departments has not been given the proper consideration and weight.

Councilwoman Martha Rasmussen said she, also, feels frustrated that the recommendations made by both the park and recreation committee and police and fire officials are being ignored.

?Why don?t we consider that recommendation?? Rasmussen said. ?I sort of feel that?s why we have committees.?

Councilwoman Susan Silvers said just because she voted to re-open the lake does not mean she did not heavily weigh the recommendations of all interested parties.

?I did take that into account,? Silvers said.

The beach is not, Silvers explained, a black and white issue. She noted the council is continuing to gather information and discuss how to improve safety at the lake. City attorney John Morrissey presented research he has done regarding the city?s liability and the city?s options moving forward - research that was done at the council?s request, Silvers said.

Bob Klauber believes the fate of the lake should remain in the hands of the full council. If not, the position of the 10 volunteers who maintain the beach and the people who use the lake ? he estimates more than 1,000 different people use the beach during the course of a summer ? will not be taken into account, he said.

?The council is an elected body,? Klauber said. ?There is not one person that I know of on the police or fire departments or on the park and recreation board that represents the interests of the people who use the beach. The decision should be made by the council after hearing all sides.?

The volunteers have more than a vested interest, he said. They spend an average of five hours per week picking up trash, pulling weeds and cleaning up goose droppings. Since the drowning, they have spent countless hours researching additional safety measures that could possibly be implemented.

?We are doing everything we can think of to help and contribute,? Klauber said.

Since the drowning, volunteers have removed the faux alligator head that once floated in the lake to scare geese so that no child would be enticed into deeper water because of its presence. Additional buoys have been added in the swim lane that extends from the far rope of the shallow swimming area across the lake. The buoys also have been moved equal distances apart to serve as resting stations for those making the swim across the whole lake.

?We remain dedicated,? Klauber said.

Terry Cochran, chairman of the park and recreation committee, fears these ?well intentioned? additional safety measures could contribute to a false sense of security at the lake.

?My fear is that people will think they only have to be able to swim the distance between the floats,? Cochran said. ?Good intentions have actually resulted in an unsafe situation.

?The facility out there was never really designed to handle the number of people who are there,? Cochran continued. ?As a result, people tend to go out too far, and it makes it really easy for people to get into trouble.?

Klauber said he has the utmost respect for Cochran; he hopes all parties can move forward in the spirit of compromise.

?I am committed to doing our part in compromising,? Bob Klauber said. ?Ultimately, I would like for us to be able to swim in the entire lake without restriction. That said, I realize that there are concessions we must make on our side. I understand the concerns about the dock, and I?m fine with the decision that was made regarding it. That is a compromise. I also understand the importance of trying to keep people either in the roped swimming area or in the open water directly beyond the ropes.?

Friday, Klauber posted a reminder on a Facebook site he created for beach users, stressing the need to remain in the specified areas and asking that all users both comply and encourage anyone they see swimming beyond that area to return to the designated zones.

?I am stressing the importance of this,? Klauber said. ?We?re trying to help with compliance.?

Harvey said if law enforcement officials see people swimming only within those confines and following rules, it would go a long way in repairing relationships.

?I think the us versus them thing would end if people were consistently using the lake in the way it was intended,? she said, adding that adopting ordinances regarding use of the lake also would help law enforcement officials. ?We need something with some teeth in it.?

Cochran agreed.

?I think the best compromise would be to have significant restrictions on children,? Cochran said. ?Adults have the capability to understand all the risks. Children do not fully understand the risk. As a community, we need to find other safe and healthier options for them.?

Morrissey said most likely, a compromise could be reached. While he presented the city council with multiple options, he said by imposing restrictions, using signage that refers to the specific dangers around and in the lake, and by enforcing restrictions, the lake could be made safer and the city?s liability could be reduced. There is nothing that can be done to eliminate liability entirely, he said. Even if it were closed to swimming, the lake would still pose a liability issue.

?You?d still have an attractive nuisance,? Morrissey said.

Klauber said in this regard, he believes leaving the lake open with a restricted swimming area is far safer than closing it.

?People are going to swim in it anyway. If they aren?t allowed to swim there, they?re going to swim in some of the most unsafe places in the lake because those are the places the police cannot see easily. Closing it would create more safety problems, not less,? he said.

Klauber said he isn?t going to give up on the lake he loves. He believes all parties have a sincere desire to act in the best interest of the community, and he is confident a compromise can be reached.

?I am still optimistic we can work together. I believe in compromise,? Klauber said.

If compromises can?t be reached and the beach is closed, those who swim there said they will ?grieve.?

?Coming here is just an enjoyable experience. It?s a wonderful, refreshing break. The whole social, communal aspect of the beach is just amazing. It may seem like it?s just a muddy pond, but it?s so sweet,? Susan Klauber said. ?It would really tear me up if I couldn?t come here anymore.?

?This is a jewel. We shouldn?t be talking about closing it. We should be looking at how to expand it,? beachgoer Rodger Beaton said. ?As the DNR told councilman John Revolinski, if they closed beaches due to drownings, there would be any beaches left open.

?Closing the beach would be closing a wonderful magnet Fairfield now has for attracting and keeping people,? Beaton continued.

?Keep it open,? said swimmer Mary Reid.