LYNN — The City Council voted unanimously to improve safety measures in Lynn Woods after a man drowned there on Sunday.
At 7:19 p.m. on Sunday, the Police Department received a call regarding a man drowning at Lynn Reservoir, which is located in Lynn Woods. At 11:01 p.m. the same night, police received a similar call regarding a man drowning at Sluice Pond. Both men died as a result of the incidents.
The Essex County District Attorney’s Office released the names of the victims on Tuesday. The Lynn Reservoir drowning victim was 30-year-old Macario Ordonez Calmo and the Sluice Pond drowning victim was 60-year-old Michael Petkewich. Both men were Lynn residents
Essex County District Attorney’s Office Chief of Staff Sharyn Lubas said the exact causes of death are still unknown and will not be released until full autopsies are completed.
During the council’s meeting, Councilor-at-Large Brian Field proposed installing multilingual signs around possible access points in Lynn Woods after holding a moment of silence for the two victims.
Field said the efforts of the Police and Fire departments to rescue Calmo were “nothing short of remarkable.”
“Risking their own safety — fully dressed in their uniform, entering unsafe areas of the reservoir, doing their best to recover someone who shouldn’t have been in the water,” Field said.
He said the departments did everything they could to save Calmo and Petkewich.
Field asked the councilors for approval to draft a letter requesting the park ranger visit all the entrances to Lynn Woods and see how the city can improve its safety measures.
He added that recreation in Lynn Woods is “certainly allowed,” but cookout grills, charcoal, alcohol, swimming, boating, and fishing are not.
“There’s a reason why those ordinances exist to prohibit those activities,” Field said.
In the letter, the council will ask the park ranger how the city can clarify and improve that message, whether through multilingual signs, more visible signs, or barbed entrances in the woods.
“Maybe, just maybe, we can improve this so it doesn’t happen again,” Field said.
