Lakefield Farms
South Sandwich MA 02563
Lakefield Farms News
The Annual General Meeting for 2024 was held at the Clubhouse on June 20. The top topic was the necessity of replacing the Clubhouse deck. Doing this will require a special assessment of $200 for each household in Lakefield Farms. The vote on the Deck taken at the Meeting was unanimous.
Read more about this issue in the Meeting Minutes.
July 17, 2024: Special $200 Invoices are being mailed.
Don’t forget to give us your email address so we can keep you updated on this Deck project and other issues.
Just drop a line to: LakefieldFarms@comcast.net
ATTENTION BOAT OWNERS
November 29, 2023
This is a message to small boat owners who do or may use Lawrence Pond. I would like to clarify a point that I made in the November Newsletter. In the Newsletter I mentioned that you could drop a boat mooring in Lawrence Pond. However, I didn’t mention that you needed a permit from the Sandwich Harbormaster. So I contacted the Harbormaster’s office to check on the procedure to get said permit. They told me that for the past couple of years no permits have been issued for freshwater moorings. This is because of a lack of staff at the town and harbormaster’s office. They are working on reintroducing freshwater permits at some time in the future but they were unable to predict when that might be. Therefore, dropping a mooring in Lawrence Pond at this time is not permitted, and is technically illegal. The Harbormaster did inform me that regular random checks for freshwater moored craft are made by the town.
The Harbormaster was most forward coming in explaining that creating and implementing a permit program was more complex that most people think. He cited many questions that needed to be answered such as who do you call if a boat sinks or is damaged and who recovers it and who owns it after recovery. Does it have a pump? If it catches fire can the fire department get to it; and more. It was an enlightening conversation. If and when they restart a mooring program, it will be noted on the Harbormasters website ( https://sandwichmarina.com/ )
You can, if you are a paid up member of Lakefield Farms Trust, use the clubhouse boat ramp to launch and retrieve your boat. The padlock combination for the ramp is the same as for the parking lot gate and is listed on the rear of your Lakefield Farms membership card. Please note that it is also illegal to tie your boat to any vegetation surrounding Lawrence Pond or to store your boat on any beach. Kayaks and similar boats may be stored on racks provided if they are registered (from March 1 to November 30) with Lakefield Farms and have a legible coastguard sticker (Available at the Clubhouse office on Tuesday afternoons).
Thank you
Colin
