To the Editor:

Warwick owes a HUGE thank you to Bobby Matorelli, Jr. and his company, Matorelli Property Services! Recently, he took a large dumpster and all of his employees to Conimicut Point Beach to conduct a no-charge cleanup. Joining him were several Conimicut and nearby residents. In a period of only two hours, the cleanup resulted in the dumpster being FULL of garbage collected from the beach and the wooded areas immediately adjacent. The trash included everything from soiled diapers to broken plastic chairs to a ladder and furniture items – and, of course, the always ubiquitous beer cans, McDonald’s bags, Dunkin’ Donuts cups, etc. And this full dumpster of trash was collected in addition to the hundreds of pounds of trash collected during monthly cleanups at the park and beach by Save the Bay, and in addition to trash picked up by Conimicut Village Association members during their periodic cleanups.

This large dumpster full of trash was left behind by totally inconsiderate jerks, many of whom – perhaps most – do not live in Warwick but come to our beach instead of going to Scarborough or East Matunuck state beaches because, unlike the state, we charge nothing to park and enjoy our beautiful (now usually filthy) beach and park.

Oakland Beach suffers somewhat the same problem. However, solving the problem there will not be easy since restricting access would greatly harm the nearby businesses. Rather than access restrictions there, more garbage containers and anti-littering enforcement would likely improve the situation immensely.

At Conimicut Point Park and Beach, however, an easier and much more effective solution is within grasp. All the City of Warwick has to do to ensure the park and beach remain relatively clean and environmentally safe is to re-implement access control at the park’s entrance. Access control existed in the past and can be resurrected with very little cost – perhaps no cost.

Since much of the garbage is left along the beach and wooded area north of the virtually unusable boat ramp at the end of Shawomet Ave, access to that area must also be restricted. That could be easily done by placing a barrier across Shawomet Ave just past the last house on the street and requiring access to the boat ramp and adjacent fishing areas through Conimicut Point Park. This would require the removal of some boulders and a couple of small trees between the main park roundabout road and the boat ramp parking area to provide vehicle access to the ramp and north fishing beach. This would require all vehicles entering and using the park, beach and boat ramp to enter through the main gate controlled access point at the end of Point Avenue.

A reasonable charge, perhaps $5 per person or $10 per vehicle – whichever is lower – with free access to walkers, would not turn away low-income families. Season parking passes – available to residents, non-residents and frequent fisherfolk – would be even cheaper.

The usual argument against access controls just aren’t logical. Too costly? Wrong! The cost to hire teenagers or retirees to man the access control point would be only about $390 per day (13 hours x 2 teens x $15 per hour - 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.). Averaging just $7 per vehicle, only about 55 vehicle per day would pay for the access control teens. The park currently attracts at least 200-300 vehicles per day. Unduly restricts access to the water? Wrong! That argument doesn’t apply at state beaches and does not apply at Conimicut. Governments at all levels and courts have ruled that beach parking charges are not unduly restrictive. Low-income people can’t afford to pay? Wrong! A program for reduced-cost season passes for low-income families could be easily implemented. Paid access would result in excessive street parking along nearby streets? Wrong! No parking signs could easily be installed and enforced along those portions of nearby streets that are within three hundred yards of the park entrance.

Access to early morning fisherfolk would be unduly restricted? Wrong! The gate would be opened at 4 a.m. by police and closed at 9 pm by the access control employees at the end of the shift. Police would not have easy access to patrol the park between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m.? Wrong! A relatively inexpensive gate with electronic opening/closing mechanism can be installed, allowing police to open and close the gate with the push of a button from inside their patrol cars.

The bottom line is that something has to be done to stop the out-of-control littering problem at Conimicut Point. It is affecting the area’s environmental safety, polluting the water of the Bay, reducing the market value of areas homes, and in many other ways adversely impacting the quality of life for Conimicut and area residents.

Conimicut is not the Johnston Landfill! Our city leaders must not sit back and allow it to become just another landfill dump.

Let’s hope our political leaders are listening and they are willing to push through these changes starting next summer. If November rolls around and they have remained silent, let’s make sure our voices are heard loud and clear at the ballot box.

Lonnie Barham

Warwick