Troy Dyer said Tuesday that his family had always allowed the public the use of a strip of land on their property to launch boats into the small pond, but will no longer allow it because of vandalism.

Dyer's action has caused unrest among those who have fished the pond for years, Town Manager Robert Simpson said Tuesday.

"We're caught in the middle," said Simpson. Although the town owns the road where the right of way is, Dyer owns a small strip of land adjacent to the Fern Road that must be crossed to reach the landing.

Simpson said he plans to meet with Dyer to try to get him to remove the sign or deed the small piece of land to Dexter so the town can construct a small boat landing that will accommodate the local needs. Because the landing has been used by the public over the years, there also may be some statutes that allow its continued use as a public site, he said.

Dyer said he and his family, who have owned the land for years, have been accommodating to the public. But in recent months, Dyer said he has suffered much damage caused by vandals. He said that his water line, which had been tethered to a pole in the pond, was damaged, causing the destruction of his water pump.

Returning from a weekend away, Dyer discovered that someone had cut several of his trees that had afforded the family some privacy from the landing, and had felled them into the pond. As a result, he was threatened with a fine by the Department of Environmental Protection.

In addition, Dyer said he was continually picking up litter left by those who used the landing. He said he placed a trash barrel on the site and posted a sign that noted the property was private but open to the public, and requested help to keep the property clean. But the barrel and the sign ultimately ended up in the pond.

"It's just a combination of everything," Dyer said, that pushed him to take the action. He said he felt that the landing had always been open to the public and should continue to be open to the public, but to do that now, the town should purchase the strip of land.

Simpson said that he hopes a compromise can be reached with Dyer. The site does not meet the standards for boat launches required by the Department of Conservation or the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife because it is too small. If the town were to construct a landing, it would do so without any state grants and might face some liability issues, Simpson said.

The town manager said he had met with DEP officials regarding the matter and they have agreed to work with the town to solve the problem regarding access to the pond.
"This content originally appeared as a copyrighted article in the Wednesday, May 01, 2002 edition of the Bangor Daily NEWS and is used here with permission."