SHREWSBURY – The Lake Quinsigamond Commission created a new subcommittee on Aug. 30 to combat the continued dangerous and obnoxious behavior on the lake.
“Every weekend I’m getting emails and phone calls and Facebook posts… the issues of people speeding and driving recklessly. I’ve seen people towing people out there, people without vests, underage people operating the jet skis, rental businesses going on. It’s just crazy,” said Chair Peter Collins. “It’s just ridiculous. It’s overwhelming, and it’s hard to police it.”
“[Police] are doing the best they can to solve a problem that’s just overwhelming. It’s overwhelming because some of the operators – especially on the jet ski side – just either don’t know or don’t care if they’re violating the law. I think it’s a little bit of both,” he added.
Collins also reported that some watercraft operators – particularly jet skiers – have been rude, regularly “flipping people off” while riding down the lake.
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The subcommittee would meet several times per month and would include members of the commission, law enforcement, and other community members. The subcommittee will consider ideas on how to curb the misbehavior on the lake.
Ideas include instituting “quiet time” on the lake and an educational requirement for jet skiers.
A complete ban on jet skis will also be considered.
“Everything is on the table. A ban – a total jet ski ban on Lake Quinsigamond – is on the table,” Collins said. ““If you’re not going to behave, we’re going to come after you. Whatever we have to do… If we have to do a total ban on a particular type of watercraft because they won’t obey the law – that’s what we’re going to do.
“To be honest, I’m just tired of it. I’m tired of the whole thing… Enough is enough.”
