Archive: Around Town

Have you visited Salt Point recently?  You have probably noticed significant changes since only a few years ago.  It's cleaner.  There is significantly less unpleasant and illegal behavior.  There are nature trails instead of the hole-pocked roads that used to thread through the wooded area.  Salt Point is a lot closer to the original management plan vision of a natural area conducive to hiking, hunting, bird watching, and other quiet activities.

"It has really cut down on poor driving and racing of cars," says Lansing Councilwoman Katrina Binkewicz, who has taken the lead on improving the park.  "Last year we had a flipped car and people were almost run down by people racing up and down.  There was poor behavior here such as drug sales and fighting.  If the police came one way the troublemakers would escape in the other direction on the loop.  So they really couldn't catch people who were misbehaving.  Now if someone is drunk and disorderly down on the beach the Constable can walk down and have a conversation with them and give them a warning."

Safety concerns have been a top priority because of a history of illegal behavior there that began after the closing of the Cayuga Lake Salt Company in the 1960s.  Some residents still call it 'U.C. Point' for Utica Club beer, a popular brand that was consumed regularly on the point in the 1980s as it gained a reputation as an unregulated party place.

Owned by the DEC (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation), the Town of Lansing has a 25 year lease to manage the property.  Since the DEC approved a management plan in May of 2006, the point has slowly evolved.  This year major strides have been made that are making a significant difference in the look and feel of the park that have already changed the ways the point is being used.


Binkewicz says there are still a few kinks in the system. Swimming is not allowed at Salt Point, yet swimmers continue to use the property.  That became an issue this week when goose hunters came to the point.  She says more thought must be given to integrating hunting with other activities. 

"Part of the agreement with the DEC is to allow hunting here," Binkewicz says.  "It wasn't on our radar that goose hunting season is early this year.  There were decoys out there Tuesday and hunters hiding in the bristly locusts, and people swimming.  The hunters weren't happy because there was noise and chaos.  And there was some concern about the safety of the swimmers.  So we'll have to do more planning about signage during the hunting seasons."

The general plan includes a parking lot for most users at the entrance to Salt Point and a road that leads to a mowed bluff area at the north of the property where handicapped parking and a non-motorized boat launch area have been established.  The rest of the property has been blocked off with concrete barriers.  While a gate will provide access to emergency vehicles, the majority of the point has been relegated to hiking.  Old roads have been allowed to grow wild.

New nature trails have been cut through wooded areas in the park.  A variety of nest boxes will be erected on poles and trees along these trails to attract bluebirds, tree swallows, small woodpeckers, fishing duck mergansers and owls.  The purple martin condominium bird house will be moved from Myers Park to the Slat Point meadow, where it will be more regularly maintained.  Two new walking trails are planned for next year: one will run along Salmon Creek, including a small boardwalk.  Another will go from the entry to the point to the slope of the hill on the east of the railroad bed with a view and a picnic table at the top.


Tree plantings and improvement of the shoreline were part of the management plan.  This year about two and a half acres were seeded with wildflowers.  Foliage around some of the beaches were planted, while other beach areas were retained.  The Town spent $1,000 on trees from Cayuga Landscape, which sold them to the Town at a third of the usual price and donated six additional trees for the project.  Trees and native shrubs were also purchased from The Plantsman, half of which were planted last Spring with the other half slated to be planted later this Fall.


About a quarter of the south side of the bluff will be lined with logs from fallen trees to create a picnic area.  Some of the existing bluff space will be retained for parking.  Some trees and junk foliage along the lakeshore to provide better views.  Bramble and bristly locusts will be cleared from the shore to provide better lake views. 

A big change going forward is that taxpayer money will no longer be used to improve the park.  Instead donations and grants will be solicited for new projects. 

"We're all very conscious that we don't know what our tax base is going to be in the future with the power plat at risk," Binkewicz says.  "We've just had a reduction in sales taxes.  And people are very concerned about what we're spending our money on, and rightly so."

Volunteer labor and donations of money and trees are part of that plan.  Local resident John Greenly has agreed to build three benches to be placed around the point.  Next summer an eagle scout project will yield more benches to be placed along view areas and the nest box trail, and possibly more trees to provide shade for the picnic area. Binkewicz says she also hopes to obtain grants to provide some sort of bathroom facility.


"One of the grants I am hoping to write this year is for a fishing pier with access from the bluff parking area that will be handicapped accessible," she says.  "The point is to improve handicapped park amenities in this area so somebody in a wheelchair could come into the picnic area, down a handicapped accessible ramp and out to a fishing pier.  Canoes and sailboats could tie up at the pier so people could come from the water to visit the trails and the natural area."

The Parks department is planning to brush hog (a higher, rough mowing) the meadow and the edges of the loop at the end of the point in October.  At the very tip they will be brush hogging some of the bristly locusts and sumac and clear some limbs from a tree so it will be possible to look across Salmon Creen from Myers Point and clearly see the osprey nest and Salt Point shore.  That will allow more access to handicapped and elderly people who can't hike to the south end of Salt Point.

The Town is also partnering with the Cayuga Bird Club to try to obtain grants to pay for informational kiosks to be placed around the point.  One idea that is being considered is two-paneled signs featuring local natural history on one side and Lansing and Salt Point history on the other.


While cognizant that permanent buildings are not appropriate for a leased park, Binkewicz says that some modest structures could enhance it.

"It would be lovely to have a pavilion out here on the bluff," she says.  "I could see people wanting to get married out here.  Maybe in conversations with the DEC we could get permission to have the Lions put pavilion here at some point."


Improving Salt Point is part of the DEC contract and improves safety, native species of plants and animals, and provides a migratory habitat for various birds.  But it's not all about preserving nature.  Binkewicz says that making Salt Point more usable and attractive will bring tourists who will spend money in Lansing businesses.

"The County is interested in it becoming part of their 'Blue Highways' campaign for tourism," Binkewicz says.  "This is a really valuable area with a lot of public support.  I see Myers and Salt Point as a gem to attract people to come here and spend money in our town.  This is a great destination point."

v9i34