MARBLEHEAD — While the significant majority of Wednesday’s Board of Health meeting was spent discussing the Republic Services strike and miscellaneous member updates, there was one topic discussed toward the end of the meeting that community members may want to pay attention to.
Dr. Amanda Ritvo, the Board of Health’s newest member, brought up a concern she had received from a Marblehead community member. The concern regarded the water quality at Riverhead Beach, which is not a bathing beach and therefore not tested by the Town of Marblehead.
“Hearing the concerns, my first initial thought was, ‘Oh sure, why don’t we just test? That seems simple enough.’ But it’s not simple,” she said. “It’s designating that area a bathing beach, and to do that would take multiple steps, including probably banning dogs from that area and (removing) the boat ramp.”
Public Health Director Andrew Petty immediately informed Ritvo that removing the boat ramp was not a possibility, but it would become a factor in this discussion.
“This may not be feasible,” Ritvo said, “but an alternative would be to educate the public more that this is not a swimming beach or a bathing beach that’s tested. I looked on our website. It lists the beaches, and Riverhead Beach is listed.”
Petty said that was on the Recreation and Parks portion of the website, and “we need to do a better job on our website, making sure that there’s a list of what the five public bathing beaches are in town. At the very bottom of that, you would have a link to the state website of all the bathing beaches, where all the data comes back in, because that’s also posted on the state website.”
A member of the audience asked the Board if there was a sign at Riverhead Beach stating that it was not a bathing beach.
Board member Tom McMahon read the beach’s signage verbatim: “Water flowing from this drainage pipe may be unsafe for human contact. Do not play or swim near outlet flow.” This signage warns beach-goers of the culvert there.
Ritvo also noted concerns regarding a floating dock, which McMahon clarified was private property of a homeowner.
Petty then added his take to the signage conversation.
“I think what you’d say, rather than ‘no swimming,’ you would just say, ‘These waters are not sampled on a routine basis for bathing beach quality,’” he said.
Ritvo asked the board to consider a motion to speak with the town lawyer “to make sure that recreation sports don’t fall under these bathing beach guidelines (and) to make sure that we shouldn’t be testing.” A motion was not made.
Petty disagreed, saying, “the first thing we really should do is: If people are concerned about this area, we can talk to the state and the bathing beach program. … We could potentially have them come out and take a look at it and give us some guidance around these mixed-use areas.”
He later said he would not be able to discuss this with State leaders until about mid-September because they are busy until the end of the bathing beach season.
Ritvo said that was “great” and added, “Certainly, my agenda is not to interfere with the SUP program. I know how popular it is. I hear such wonderful things about it.
“But if we’re not testing and saying that you shouldn’t be bathing, that the outflow is right where the program is, I think the program starts at 3-and-a-half (years old), and I know my 2-and-a-half (year old) drinks every water that’s around him, so I think it’s worth exploring more.”
McMahon provided background on the issue.
“When I was growing up as a kid, Riverhead was not what it is now,” he said. “Essentially, if you wanted access to Marblehead Harbor, you had to own a boat, you had to be a member of a yacht club, or you had to be wealthy and live on the water.”
McMahon said he gets “emotional” thinking about SUP Program Creator Leah Goodman’s impact on Riverhead Beach.
The two graduated Marblehead High together, and McMahon emphasized that “she opened up Riverhead to everyone, and it made it so anyone can access and enjoy Marblehead Harbor, which was not possible before.”
He said the Recreation and Parks Department has built on that program and they now have kayaks available to be rented. The SUP Program provides youth and adult programming, notably with paddleboards.
He said Goodman lives in Florida and only comes back to Marblehead during the summer months to host that program, so she would need a considerable heads up if changes were made that would affect her program. McMahon added that if more obstacles were added, she may not be able to continue SUP.
“The way she’s changed Riverhead is the best thing I’ve ever seen in Marblehead in my lifetime,” McMahon said. He asked an attendee if he could think of anything else that would compare, and he couldn’t.
“It’s the best. It gives everyone access. People come out. No one swims there,” he said. “I was literally there today at 1, high tide, not one person in the water. It was 90 degrees out.”
McMahon added that nobody thinks to swim there because Devereux Beach is across the street. He noted that Wednesday there were some people there with dogs, some people paddleboarding and a couple people kayaking.
The debate continued as different understandings of the definitions behind a ‘watercraft’ and what constitutes swimming were discussed.
Ritvo thought a waiver for parents could be a solution, to which McMahon said there likely already was one. McMahon suggested Ritvo talk to Recreation and Parks about her concerns.
Board chair Dr. Tom Massaro said, “I believe this is exactly the kind of debate that should occur.” He told Ritvo to speak with Recreation and Parks and set this conversation as an agenda item at the board’s next meeting, which will be Sept. 9.
