Navy Association says City of Woodstock at fault for pond frustrations

CTV’s Jeff Pickel dives into the debate between Oxford County’s Navy Association and the City of Woodstock.

The Oxford County Navy Association believes the City of Woodstock is to blame for low water levels in their pond.

The pond, next to the association’s club house, has been a hub of activity for many groups in the past.

“There’s lots of community events. We bring in the Parkwood Veterans,” Peter Keith, chair of the Oxford County Naval Association, said. “They come here a couple of times in the summer. We have fishing derbies, all kinds of different functions for charity.”

But the Navy Association said things changed around two years ago when construction began on a nearby city-owned property and the water level dropped significantly, leading to the cancellation of those initiatives.

“We met with the city, and we tried to get some solutions to fix the problem. We feel that, after two years, we are no further ahead, and we haven’t heard where we are in the process of getting a solution to fix the problem.”

The city said a motion to hire a consultant to examine the issue was approved.

“They’re going to come back with a bunch of options and the costing with those options,” Woodstock Mayor Jerry Acchione said. “If it was easy, it would have been fixed quicker, there’s no question.”

He also said the city has been trying to keep the organization informed about the process.

“We had been in constant communication with the Navy Club. Of course, we’re all, let’s say, unhappy at the speed of the reports that we’ve requested at this point.”

The city believes the report will be ready in the next few weeks.

However, as another summer is now underway, the club thinks its time for action.

“I’d sleep better at night, and I’m sure the 900 members would be ecstatic to know that they have a pond that they can use,” Bryan Bucholtz, president of the Oxford County Naval Association, said.