LIBERTY — With safety concerns for the public looming about the deteriorating footbridge on the shore of Swan Lake, the Town of Liberty is set to hire a title search company to clarify the specifics of who has ownership of the structure. 

Town Supervisor Frank DeMayo said that the titleship over the pedestrian bridge is “clear as mud.” A land easement of the bridge adds complications to the ownership.

“I would recommend that we hire a title search company to clarify to see exactly who owns what on that bridge,” DeMayo said. In the meantime, warning tape and barricades have been set up to discourage traffic on the bridge, which have gone largely ignored, according to town legal counsel, Ken Klein, Esq.

“We need to do something to protect the general public even though they won’t protect themselves,” Klein said. “It is barricaded and tapped, but somebody keeps cutting it down. I drive through there almost every day and the tape is always cut and the barricades are shoved or knocked over.”

Town officials discussed the possibility of posting warning signs around the unstable structure as a means to keep people off the bridge for now. 

“Let’s start with signs and keep the tape up,” DeMayo said, “and we’ll get a title search done.”