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Now that summer has begun more and more people will go to Myers Park and Salt Point, the two town parks that sandwich Salmon Creek.  While use and activities at Myers are long established, Salt Point poses a challenge for town officials who hope to change almost 50 years of unregulated behavior there.  Over the past two years since the town took over the management of the point there has been some resistance. 

The same day a gate was installed the post it would latch to was stolen.  And when the highway department began to fill in wild dirt roads to be refoliated, someone brought a tractor into the park to undo what they had begun.  After two years town officials are hoping that people will see the benefits of a controlled nature park and begin to respect the rules, town law, and the park itself.


"It was addressed by the constable and some of these issues were dealt with," says Park Superintendent Steve Colt. " We knew we needed to make a change.  Things that are wild and unkempt like that tend to go exponentially in that direction, and things that are tidied up with some structure applied tend to head in (a better) direction.  It was decided in late winter, early spring, that if we could go there and clean up some of the rubble, cover up some of those bog track roads, delineate the perimeter road... People would see it and stay in the areas designed for them.  So far it looks like that is exactly what's happening.  The visual in my opinion is awesome."

Indeed Salt Point has been transformed from a scruffy tangle of pocked dirt roads, filled with litter, the remains of bonfires, dumped tires, and worse.  The Town paved the entry road and a small parking lot by the Myers Road entrance, filled in the dirt roads with foliage, and constructed a perimeter road.  That road parallels the railroad tracks going north, then leads to a spot where you can launch unmotorized boats.  There is a loop in the road there where you can either turn back the way you came or continue around the point back to the entrance.  A sign and gate at the entrance explains the new rules for the park.

Salt Point was originally used by the Cayuga tribe as a hunting and fishing ground.  From 1891 through 1962 the Cayuga Lake Salt Company operated there, extracting salt water brine from two deep wells on the property, and then evaporating the brine to create high grade salt for use as table salt.  They employed 100 people.


After a fire in 1962 the plant was bulldozed and the debris was spread across the site.  New York State purchased the land in the 1960s, but the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) never had the manpower to manage the site.  From that time until 2006, when the Town Of Lansing signed a 50 year lease with the DEC to manage Salt Point, activity was unregulated.  Known as UC Point (after Utica Club beer) because people went there to drink, it was a place of frequent crimes.  Dirt roads pocked the property, and it was marred by litter, bonfire remains, and used by some as a dump.

The remains of the bulldozed plant are part of what town the highway department dealt with late this past winter and early spring.  "There were tons of rubble and debris that were just barely under the surface of the ground and some coming up through the ground, that were hazardous," Colt says.  "Concrete and steel left over from the International Salt days.  The area was improved by having that removed or covered over so if somebody fell they wouldn't be cut.  You have to drive slowly, but that's a nice road that the highway department put in.  They did it right."

Colt says that if people see a clean, well cared for park they are more likely to respect it.  "Hopefully people have wised up a little bit and know to stay on this roadway instead of creating roads wherever they wanted to, which denigrated the property," he says.  "Now the property seems to be more respected.  As you turn north on this roadway you get a great vista of Cayuga Lake, a northern look.  You would never have been able to see it before."


So far the approach seems to be working, though this summer will pose the real test.  Still, so far, so good.  Colt says he drove around the point a few weeks ago.  "I was impressed that I didn't see any burned out bonfire remains," he says.  "We don't want fires.  We haven't seen the piled up beer bottles and cans and the disrespectful junk that people left behind in the past.  If we can keep that under control or -- better yet -- if people respect the area for the awesome waterfront property it is, it can remain and get even more beautiful than it is right now.  If you're going to create garbage take it with you.  If they do that it will be a stunning place to go."

When the Town of Lansing entered into talks with the DEC town officials envisioned a 'quiet place' where people could come to enjoy nature, to hike, birdwatch, or just go to contemplate the impressive views.  With a boat launch in Myers Park, the plan is to allow canoes and kayaks on salt point, but nothing with a motor.  Swimming is confined to the Myers Park beach where the town has life guards on duty.  Fires are no longer permitted, and pets must be controlled in keeping with the town's leash law.  Four constables patrol the area on an unpredictable schedule.


Part of the deal with the DEC is that hunting and fishing be allowed.  Colt says that the hunting season dovetails with the season that people would just go there to enjoy the park.  The original plan included two kiosks, one at a small parking area and the other near the boat launch area.  Colt says that those could still come in the future, and might include information about the history of the point, or the nearly 150 species of birds and 40 kinds of fish are thought to inhabit Salt Point.

For now Colt plans to let people use the cleaned up park and see what happens.  "There is nothing more planned officially for this year," he says.  "I think what's done has been done well.  We'll see where it takes itself naturally for a while and then take the next step down the road somewhere.  Step one had to be done before the subsequent steps could be taken.  Some of those steps will probably involve the kiosks.  Interest is going to drive that part of it.  Certainly what was just completed needed to be done just to envision what can come next."

Colt says that the management lease is a good deal for the state.  Certainly the town has accomplished more in two years that the DEC did in 40-plus years since it purchased Salt Point.  "The bottom line is that the DEC is stretched to the max," he says.  "These guys have an unbelievable amount of responsibility and probably half the people they wish they had to do it.  If they visit and see that it is organized and neat, and there are not undesirable things happening there, they've got to be thrilled with it.  They know what was going on before.  If that has ceased or diminished I've got to believe they'll be very happy with it."


Now that the area has been cleaned up and rules posted Colt hopes more people will come to Salt Point to enjoy it.  And with rules in place he hopes they enjoy it more, that the point will be more welcoming to a wider range of people. 

"Some people always felt that area was nicer than it really was, and maybe thought that people were respecting it more than they were, he says.  "The fact of the matter is that it wasn't, and they weren't.  It needed help.  It needed cleaning up.  Now I know of several residents in Myers that go over on a regular basis, as a part of their daily routine.  They walk through and pick up whatever they see.  I hope they are picking up less than they ever picked up before, but I guess we'll have to wait and see where it goes.  When we get into our true summer season and see if people that come in from other areas use it and don't abuse it.  That's what we're hoping for."

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