SMALLWOOD, NY — Summer is almost upon us once again, and that means it’s once again time for the Friends of Toronto advocacy group to bring up the public access area at the Toronto Reservoir.

Pictures of the road to the public access show that there are numerous obstacles on the road to the reservoir in the form of large potholes. The Toronto Reservoirs and others in the system are owned by Eagle Creek Renewable Energy, LLC, and as a condition of the company’s license to operate hydropower facilities on them, the company is required to ensure that the public can travel to the public access area.

Friends of Toronto sent a letter to the Bethel Town Board asking that they take several steps to convince Eagle Creek to fix the road.

The town board agreed to send a letter to Eagle Creek and copy the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which grants the license to the company. The letter says in part, “The current access road is in very poor condition and essentially not usable. It is imperative that Eagle Creek fulfill its obligation in this regard. It should additionally be noted that emergency access must also be provided, and the current state of the access road does not provide for sufficient emergency access.”