DEP OKs Lowering of Pine Lake Water Level

Pine Lake may finally be on the road to restoration.

The state Department of Environmental Protection has finally approved Manchester Township’s application to lower the water level of the man-made lake, the Township Council reported on Monday night.

Lowering the water level of the lake, which has been closed to swimming since 2008 -- the last summer that fecal coliform tests were performed at the lake, according to test results on the Ocean County Health Department website -- is the first step in trying to determine what has contaminated the lake and what can be done to remedy it, Council President Craig Wallis said.

Now that the DEP has approved that step, Wallis said, township engineer Al Yodakis of T&M Associates will be able plan the next steps. The ultimate goal is to get the lake back in shape for full recreational use. The efforts could begin as soon as late fall, Wallis said.

“We’re trying to make the area more relevant,” Wallis said after the council meeting.

Part of the responsibility for that will fall to Tracey Lynch, whose hiring as the township’s recreation director was approved by the council Monday night. It is the first time the township has had a recreation director in at least three years, Wallis said.

Lynch had been handling some of the duties before this, while she was employed in the township’s public works department, but the town felt it was time to put a director in place again.

The desire is to have a coherent operation of the township’s recreation facilities in place by next summer, Wallis said. And, at some point, reopen Pine Lake for fuller recreational use.

Currently, there is a playground at the park, a boat ramp for launching kayaks or canoes, and a pavilion with picnic tables. The playground includes a splash pad, with jets of water that spray up from the ground.

One resident complained to the council that a day camp has taken over the pavilion, with children being bused in.

“I wasn’t aware of that until tonight,” Wallis said. There have been complaints from residents about people hanging out at the park, and other issues, but he said he hadn’t heard about what appears to be a formalized camp operating there.

“If someone’s bringing a bus in there, I have a problem with it,” Wallis said, because the town never approved that. Approval for a camp at Pine Lake Park is necessary due to liability concerns among other reasons.

Police Chief Brian Klimakowski said the town is trying to review all of its ordinances to make sure the regulations at the various facilities make sense and protect residents at the same time. He said the review and revisions should be complete by next summer, adding there would be ample time for residents to comment.

(Photo: People stroll along a path near Pine Lake on an August evening. The lake has been closed to swimming since at least 2008, but may finally be headed for remediation. Credit: Karen Wall)