Cedar Point bans fishing under gazebo at park pier, citing bait-cutting mess | News
CEDAR POINT — There’s an old saying, “either fish or cut bait,” meaning one shouldn’t vacillate.
Cedar Point isn’t vacillating in its effort to stop people from cutting bait on the picnic table and benches under the gazebo on the new pier in Boathouse Creek Walking Trails park.
Effective as soon as a sign can go up, anglers will be welcome anywhere on the pier except under the gazebo, officials said Tuesday night during the town board of commissioners’ monthly meeting in the town hall.
“People can’t enjoy the gazebo when they’re dodging hooks and fish guts,” Commissioner Pam Castellano said during the meeting, one month after the board first discussed the problem.
The pier and gazebo were intended as an observation area, rather than a fishing haven. Town manager David Rief said it’s been a struggle to keep the table and benches clean since the pier was completed late this summer.
The town’s two public works employees try to keep up, but they’ve got other time-consuming chores, such as mowing street rights of way.
“It’s … to the point where we have to put out the limitation,” Ms. Castellano said. “I know there will still be some.”
Mayor Scott Hatsell agreed, but said a sign should do some good and Deputy Kurt Nakamura, who serves in Cedar Point, will swing by the park occasionally.
The mayor said he also hopes others who use the gazebo will also encourage anglers to stay landward of the sign.
A town official said Thursday they have determined a penalty for those who fish under the gazebo.
Meanwhile, Mr. Rief told commissioners he’s also struggling with what might seem to many to be a simple thing — getting a bathroom facility in the 56-acre waterfront park, which is off the end of Masonic Avenue. There’s already a septic tank there, but because the park is public property, even a basic facility has to be an engineered structure.
“It’s proving to be a little bit of a challenge,” Mr. Rief said.
One engineer told him it would cost the town more than $24,000 just for the design work.
The idea now, according to Mr. Rief, is to get a drafter to sketch out a facility, then have an engineer look at it and approve it. That would reduce the cost because it would not require as much time from an engineer.
Contact Brad Rich at 252-864-1532; email [email protected]; or follow on Twitter @brichccnt.
