Fourth at Weirs was an improvement

Room for improvement, but much better than last year. That was the general consensus of a small group of Weirs residents who met with two city councilors on Monday night to discuss how the Fourth of July unfolded at Endicott Rock Park.

City Council dealt with what was considered to be the severe and dangerous over-population of the park on Independence Day in 2003 by limiting the number of people who can be in park at one time to 2,200. Once again this year, the crowd was both early arriving — there were about 800 people in the park by 8 a.m. — and almost exclusively from Massachusetts, but the limit was reached by 10 a.m. and thereafter park attendants were only letting people onto the property on a "one in and one out basis".

The Monday night gathering at the Weirs Community Center was intended as a meeting of council's committee on Government Operations and Ordinances but Chairman Bob Luther (Ward 2) was unable to attend. Councilors Judy Krahulec (Ward 1) and Fred Toll (Ward 3), instead, facilitated an informal roundtable discussion.

There were no representatives of either the Parks Department or the Police Department at the meeting.

No one who did attend advocated going back to an unregulated attendance policy.

Krahulec — who lives across the street — said the crowd was generally very well behaved, even the people who had to wait in line to get in.

The councilor and innkeeper Joe Driscoll both indicated there was generally more commercial activity up and down Lakeside Ave. this year, when they said everything was focused on the park. Krahulec said the Mount Washington cruise ship was full and the Winnipesaukee Water Taxi enjoyed a solid day of business.

Restaurant owner Rita Donaldson was having none of improved business talk, however, saying, the out-of-towners "spent no money" here. "Its ridiculous that they overrun the beach and close it to residents," she said. "Local people can't use the beach."

Donaldson suggested the park be closed to all non-residents except guests at local inns and business employees but Toll and Don Richards noted that the city's acceptance of federal funds prohibits it from practicing that kind of discrimination.

Krahulec noted one glitch; some late arriving relatives of people who set up the picnic area early were not allowed to join their families right away. "They'll get here earlier next year," replied Charlie St. Clair.

The Ward 1 councilor also said some visitors who could not get into the park demanded their money back from local parking lots. She said she thought the Park Department was going to provide the overflow with maps to the city's other public beaches but when that didn't happen her husband Robert and Larry Baldi — owner of the Weirs Beach Water Slide — made up their own maps and handed them out.

Krahulec reported that Baldi, who could not attend, was advocating for expanding the park's capacity by taking out the parking lot and planting grass in its place. (The Weirs Action Committee nets around $25,000 each June because the city allows the organization to operate the Endicott Rock parking lot during Motorcycle Week and keep the proceeds.)

The 2,200 capacity limit was derived by park Director Phil Rowley. He allowed for 36 square feet of beach space per person. The three-acre park contains 78,919 square feet of beach space and 59,455 square feet of lawn.

Ironically, at park capacity the lawn was almost completely covered with people, while the beach itself — except for swimmers — was sparsely populated.

Donaldson wondered allowed why the city allows people to park free downtown but makes people feed parking meters on Lakeside Ave.