Even though it is only mid-August, you can already feel the change in the air and the lighting that portends the coming of fall. And with Labor Dday and the start of the school year around the corner, Manchester will be curtailing operations at Singing Beach.
Beginning Sunday, Aug.t 24, the Singing Beach Bathhouse will reduce its hours of operation for the remainder of the season. From Aug. 24 to Sept. 1 the Singing Beach Bathhouse will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Bathhouse will be closing for the season Monday, Sept. 1, at 5 p.m.
From Sept. 2 to Sept. 30th, parking at Singing Beach will be limited to residents with a valid beach parking sticker. Anyone who parks in the Singing Beach parking lot without a valid beach parking sticker is subject to ticketing or towing.
From Oct.1 until April 30, 2009, there will be 20 designated spaces in the Singing Beach parking lot for nonresidents touse at Singing Beach.
Any questions can be answered by the Manchester Parks and Recreation Department at 978- 526-2019.
Protecting the water
A number of coastal communities, including Essex, will receive new equipment from the state to aid in the event of an oil spill in the water.
Essex was among the communities selected under a program sponsored by the Department of Environmental Protection to receive a 20-foot-long trailer filled with spill containment equipment. Other communities will be getting such a trailer, as well.
The equipment provided by the state will be replenished by Department of Environmental Protection if a town or city has to use it. The trailer includes 1,000 feet of containment booms, as well as anchors, buoys, spill pads, towing bridles and portable lights. There is also a 2,000-watt generator with air compressors as well as bales and bags of petroleum product absorbents.
Gloucester received its trailer last week. Other communities receiving a trailer are Newbury, Rowley, Ipswich, Rockport, Beverly, Salem, Marblehead and Newburyport.
The communities were selected under the Marine Oil Spill Response Trailer grant program. The grant is part of the state's implementation of the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act of 2004.
The money to purchase and distribute the trailers and train emergency responders on the equipment is provided from the trust fund created to support the program.
According to the state, the fund was set up to receive 2 cents for every barrel of petroleum shipped into Massachusetts since September 2004. It is used to improve and enhance marine oil spill response and prevention, provide emergency loans and pay damage claims.
Mike Farrell covers Manchester and Essex. If you have a story idea or tip, contact him at gt_reporter@gloucestertimes.com.
