The Swellesley Report

Since 2005: More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

Morses Pond beach in Wellesley closes for season on Aug. 16, then it’s swim at own risk

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The Morses Pond beach closes for the summer season at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 16. That means that there will no longer be lifeguards or staff at the pond this year (people sometimes wonder why the beach closes for the season so early…many lifeguards and staff head back to school around this time of year).

You can still use the beach and swim in the pond, but you do so at your own risk. The bathhouse and restrooms will close.

The electronic entrance gate to Morses Pond at Turner Road will not be staffed. In the off-season, the gate is managed by the Department of Public Works Parks Division and is open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. through September and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. in October and November. The area is always closed from dusk to dawn.

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Wellesley looking to automate vehicle gate controllers at Morses Pond entrance

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The town of Wellesley has sent out a request for bids to furnish and install a pair of automated vehicle gates at the entrance to the Town’s Morses Pond property, located at 100 Turner Road. This automated gate system will have a pedestrian warning light and an audible alarm while in operation. The system will be programmable to open and close at designated times, days and dates, including the ability to have programmed automatic exiting to prevent drivers from being locked in. A remote mobile app will be part of the project, so that the gate may be operated remotely, as needed.

The app system will come in handy particularly once the Pond is officially closed for the season, yet warm weather continues, and people still want to access the trails, or hang out on the beach. (Swimming is “at your own risk” after the lifeguards finish their summertime work). Over the years, neighbors have asked the town to give people access to the Morses Pond parking lot, citing times when the Woodlands neighborhood has been overrun with vehicles parking on-street, and sometimes even blocking gate access/emergency access.

Turner Road gate, Morses Pond, WellesleyThe yellow metal Turner Road currently is locked and unlocked manually, typically by town staff, or the Wellesley Police.

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Wellesley Natural Resources Commission gives nod to new Morses Pond bath house location

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The Wellesley Natural Resources Commission (NRC) this past week voted in favor of a redesigned Morses Pond beach front with a new bath house located on the south side rather than the north, where the 1930s building now stands (see Wellesley Media recording of Oct. 22 meeting about 24 minutes in).

It wasn’t clear the NRC would go in this direction based on its Oct. 9 meeting during which it received an update from the Morses Pond Beach Advisory Committee and its consultancy. NRC members at that meeting digested a re-envisioned—as in much smaller—bath house design for both the south and north ends of the beach, plus a new bonus version of the north side setup. The Morses Pond Beach Advisory Committee at its Sept. 29 meeting voted 4-3 to recommend a north side location.

Morses Pond, Wellesley

But in the end, the NRC voted in favor of the south side option, a larger version of which had woven its way through a couple of Town Meetings until a much more modest design resulted from the Morses Pond Beach Advisory Committee process and a supplemental feasibility study for which funding was approved at Annual Town Meeting to look at environmental and other concerns.

The NRC’s decision came on the heels of the Recreation Commission the day before at its meeting (see Wellesley Media recording) sticking with its support for a south side facility as it has for years. (Some members expressed frustration and even anger about the direction the project has taken since Rec began talking about it in 2017, and Rec Chair Paul Cramer said it’s possible that Town Meeting and the Community Preservation Committee could even rethink their support for a very different project than they originally weighed in on.)

The NRC discussion and vote on Oct. 22 took less than 20 minutes, after many more minutes spent in recent years on this topic. Since discussions started, Morses Pond has made it through a pandemic that upended operations and the possibility of pickleball courts in the parking lot.

NRC member Steve Park said “What I saw in the supplemental study was that they said in either of these A or B locations with the scaling down of the project we can minimize the impacts on the area…” Based on that, what the Recreation Commission endorsed, and feedback from the public that they prefer a more open and accessible configuration, Park said he supported the south location.

Fellow member Michael D’Ortenzio also supported the south side, though said he thought the revamp could work on either end of the beach. “I look at this as choosing between all good options,” he said. D’Ortenzio went on to acknowledge that the current building on the north side does act as a wall. “I think having that open space, that vista, the area where the town can do programming there… is probably going to lead to the best outcome,” he said.

Members Tom Hammond and Bea Bezmalinovic also backed the south side location.

NRC Chair Jay McHale, who also chairs the Morses Pond Beach Advisory Committee, said the committee provided a valuable service with its findings and recommendations. He pointed to the south side location footprint being knocked down from 118,000 feet of disturbance to 32,000, a big change that aligns with the NRC’s goal to have as light a touch as possible on the environment. McHale said any of the approaches could have worked, and that he preferred the north side location, but that he would support the rest of his NRC colleagues in going with the side side in the interest of  making a decision and moving the long-running project forward.

McHale said the Morses Pond Beach Advisory Committee’s consulting partner stands ready to tighten its drawings and estimate costs for the project within a 60-day period. While a cost estimate remains to be revealed, D’Ortenzio did note as an aside at the Oct. 9 meeting that the building permit from 1938 shows that the original bath house cost $7,040 to build.

As the project moves forward, more is to come from Town Meeting, the Select Board (on financing the project) and the Permanent Building Committee. A presentation about beach and bath house improvements made at Annual Town Meeting last year featured a project schedule showing Special Town Meeting this fall voting on construction funds and a possible debt exclusion vote going to the town in December. That’s obviously not happening at this point, but a new schedule will unfold.

In summarizing what McHale said during the Oct. 22 NRC meeting, D’Ortenzio ended by saying, “My story to Town Meeting would be this was a project that now costs millions of dollars less and disturbs tens of thousands of square feet less than originally proposed,” he said.

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Related: We take a ride on the Morses Pond weed harvester (August, 2023)

Wellesley still hashing out Morses Pond beach and bathhouse plans

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The final direction of the Morses Pond beach and bathhouse project, the subject of discussions since before the pandemic, could be decided in coming weeks based on a new report and a series of meetings planned over the next two months.

The general concept has been to replace and relocate the Morses Pond bathhouse for usability, safety, accessibility and aesthetics. The “current master plan,” as it was described by the town’s consultants, has been to remove the structure on the north side of the beach and shift it to the opposite side, though the latest study does show possible alternative approaches on both the south and north sides that are significantly smaller than the current proposed structure on the south side.

The Morses Pond Beach Advisory Committee met on Sept. 15 to discuss the latest findings from consulting partner Weston & Sampson, which produced a supplemental feasibility study about placement of the bathhouse on the beach taking into consideration environmental and other concerns (see Wellesley Media recording). Town Meeting in the spring approved use of Community Preservation Act funds for the study.

The Morses Pond Beach Advisory Committee intends to make a recommendation about the project at its Sept. 29 meeting, then hand things over to the Natural Resources Commission (NRC), which created the Committee last year. The NRC is expected to make a decision in late October.

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Before that, other discussions will take place, including at the Select Board meeting on Sept. 16 (Board member Tom Ulfelder is on the Committee).

There will be more opportunities for public comment along the way.

Morses Pond Beach Advisory Committee and NRC Chair Jay McHale said early on during the Sept. 15 meeting that he was “appreciative of the fact that we have a lot of great data that the NRC can certainly look to as they make a decision…” He added later that “regardless of the choice that we make, we certainly have earned our keep in being able to reduce the overall impact to the beach area through some creative thinking and a lot of good work from Weston & Sampson…”

The feasibility study presented by consultants in part summarized results of digging stormwater test pits that allowed for exploration of soil with an eye for contaminants as well as infiltration and load capacity. The firm looked broadly as well at the pervious and impervious cover for different plans.

The study looked at trees, wildlife, and invasives in the area, plus analyzed grading that would be required for accessibility. The study zeroed in on possible disturbance of the beach area (placing the structure on the south rather than north side will create more disturbance, but either alternative would impact the area much less than the current master plan). Weston & Sampson also reviewed the maze of permitting that comes with this area, from wetlands to MBTA-related to recreational use requirements.

Weston & Sampson presented a modified bathhouse design (or “building program” in consultant-speak) that would condense the interior and exterior components of the bathhouse by more than 25% while in theory still meeting Recreation Department needs. The total square footage of the planned building vs. the modified one would be down by about 1,000 sq. ft. The number of toilet stalls and changing rooms would be reduced under the modified design, and a concession area would go away (vending machines would remain). Planned footpaths along the Ice Pond would also not be included under these designs.

A year ago the project was being talked about as possibly exceeding $9 million in costs. Total cost wasn’t discussed at the Committee meeting this week, though it was stated that condensing the project’s footprint would naturally slash costs. It was pointed out that locating the structure on the south rather than north side would be more expensive, in part due to running utilities across a longer distance, though there are some cost trade-offs with either scenario.

Neighbor Joe Schott commented during citizen speak at the start of the meeting that he appreciated the new data supplied in the study, and the ideas proposed that could lessen environmental impact of the project and result in significant cost savings. He also raised a concern that the study presentation now frames the Committee’s decision as being a new choice between modified designs on the north and south sides of the beach.

Schott said: “I think we went into this study trying to address whether or not putting the building on the south is environmentally feasible…does it meet the six recommendations that this committee laid out last summer… The reason I think that’s important is because… we’ve had five years of conversations about different preferences for siting of the building…,” and that after numerous public forums and a couple of Town Meeting votes, the south side was “the consensus location.” Getting back into conversations about location at this point would be “really going backwards”if both options are environmentally acceptable, he said.

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Wellesley Health Dept. OKs reopening of Morses Pond Beach

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Wellesley last week closed the Morses Pond swim area due to high levels of bacteria in the water, but the Health Department started this week by notifying the public that all is clear.

“After retesting the swimming area, the results have come back negative for E.coli,” the Department stated.

For questions or concerns about Morses Pond, call the Wellesley Health Department at 781-235-0135.

Please send tips, photos, ideas to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

Morses Pond in Wellesley opens for season

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Limited access to Morses Pond has begun, with full access starting on June 23.

The parking lot will be open 12pm-8pm for Wellesley residents and non-resident season pass holders. No lifeguards are on duty, so it is swim at your own risk.

Starting on June 23 through Aug. 17, lifeguards will be on duty from 10am-5pm, and park rangers will be on the job from 5pm to dusk.

Once parking lots close, there is no access to the pond.

Learn about season passes and equipment rentals. For more information, please contact the Recreation Department at 781-235-2370.