BETHEL — For the past 20 years, a citizens group known as Friends of the Toronto Reservoir (FOTR) has fought to keep public access to the reservoir free and open to all people. They say their efforts continue today to ensure the reservoir remains accessible to the public in the years and decades ahead. 

The reservoir and beach are a popular recreation area in the Town of Bethel. Toronto is one of several hydroelectric facilities operated by Eagle Creek Renewable Energy. 

According to Eagle Creek’s license with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), they’re required to provide and maintain public access to the reservoir. 

More than a dozen FOTR members gathered at the public access point off Line Grove Road last week to commemorate the anniversary and remember those they’ve lost over the years. 

FOTR Chairperson Nino Nannarone started out by remembering members who have passed away since the group formed in 2002, including Dr. Herman Goldfarb, Harold Saltzman and Herman Weiner. 

“I just want to remember those people who fought and really struggled for this thing,” Nannarone said. 

Nannarone carried with him a binder filled with newspaper articles catalog

ing their fight since 2002 to keep public access to the reservoir open. 

FOTR have held demonstrations and gone to court many times over the past two decades against private property developers and three different utility companies that have operated the hydroelectric facility on the reservoir. 

Nannarone and other FOTR members are calling on Eagle Creek to better maintain the public access road off of Pine Grove Road which has many potholes and routinely floods in at least one section.

“It has been a long, drawn-out and needless fight,”  said Bob Barrett, a founding member of FOTR, referring to actions over the years that had restricted public access. 

“When you know that you have the law on your side you’re supposed to know that the law is going to prevail, but it does not prevail when you do not get the support of those who are supposed to enforce the law,” Barrett said. 

FOTR says the issue now is to ensure the public access road is inspected and maintained twice a year, and that a walking path is created that safely leads from the parking area down to the beach. Currently visitors must walk down the gravel boat launch to reach the beach, which Nannarone says can be dangerous. 

“The fight is not over,” Nannarone said. 

Mark Gross, Senior Vice President of Operations at Eagle Creek, said that maintaining the Toronto Reservoir public access road has been a challenge.

“We did maintenance work on the road this spring and filed a compliance report with our regulator, the FERC.  We still have a beaver problem which floods the road periodically. We have obtained a permit to trap and remove the beavers and are currently working with the adjacent land owner (where the beavers are impacting the natural water flow) to obtain permission to conduct this activity,” Gross said. “We appreciate Friends of the Toronto Reservoir’s interest in this area and will continue to maintain the access road as required.”

Eagle Creek was recently acquired by Ontario Power Generation, a Canadian company based out of Toronto.

Gross says they are in the final steps of years-long relicensing process with FERC, which is currently under review. 

A letter from Bethel Town Clerk Rita Sheehan by order of the Town Board reads, “It is hard to believe that this summer marks 20 years since the issue to keep the Toronto Reservoir open to the public was started and fought for.

“The Toronto Reservoir is now thankfully open to the public ... We appreciate all of the work [FOTR] and individuals have accomplished to make sure the FERC License is enforced.”