Leino Park Water District History
History of Leino Park Association / Water District
Leino Park is a large area of houses bordering Wyman's Pond.. It is named for the Leino family, Otto, his wife Emily, and children Johannes, Martha and Leo. They lived in the brick house at 115 East Road and farmed the adjacent land. Otto Leino built the first bridge to the park in 1923, and then sold small campsites of 1/8 acre size lots to folks, mostly from Fitchburg. They took the Wachusett Park trolley to the sites to escape the summer heat in the city.
Soon tents were replaced with small camps, many consisting of only one room with an outhouse. Over time, they were expanded in several ways, including raising the roof to create a second floor, adding a porch, and/or an addition, sometimes almost to the lot line. Through the years most of these expanded camps have become year-round homes.
Leino Park has always been private property, and because of the density of the area, residents found it necessary to work together to improve and protect their homes. The homeowners were responsible for the bridge connecting them to the mainland and for the roads leading to their homes. In the early years they had regular work bees to keep the wooden bridge in good condition but as property changed hands and new owners took over, the periodic work bees ended.
The Leino Park Association was established by 1971 by residents in Leino Park. Its purpose was to maintain and improve the roads in the park and the bridge. The Association paved the roads, installed speed bumps, and made new street signs in 2004.
In the 1960s sections of the wooden span bridge began to give way after a delivery truck crossed over it and the bridge was closed to vehicular traffic. Temporary repairs were made to permit school children and adults to walk across the bridge. The only other entry into the park was over land owned by William Wintturi and he granted permission for police and fire vehicles to cross over his land.
Another very important accomplishment of the association was to provide safe and clean drinking water for its members. The replacement of individual wells became a health issue because most house lots in Leino Park are about 5000 square feet, each with its own well and septic system. This did not meet the state requirements for distance between wells and leaching beds.
In order to receive any state or federal funding for the water project the Leino Park residents first had to create a private water district. In 1983 they created the Leino Park Water District with assistance from the state legislators. Residents elected Robert Vincent the first Leino Park Water District Commission chairman and other board members were Francis Trainque, Ronald Richard, and Michael Rainville moderator, Susan Holden billing clerk, and Christine Trainque treasurer. The Association then became known as the Leino Park Water District.
Then it had to be determined whether they should tie into the Town water system or install an artesian well system for the residents. They took out a loan to pay for a feasibility study, which recommended a tie into the town water, and in 1985 they approved plans made by the Provan and Lorber Inc., Consulting Engineers of Concord, NH for a complete tie in and fire hydrant system to be hooked up to the main town water pipes. The Association took out a 40-year term Farmers' loan to pay for the construction. The pipes were brought in on East Street, the main street leading into Leino Park, with 67 homes hooking up to the system by 1989.
The Leino Park Water District remains an active group. In addition to protecting and improving their neighborhood, they held several social events including canoe races, a pig roast, and potluck suppers.
History of Wymans Lake Association
The Wyman Lake Association is a volunteer organization of property owners who live in the watershed area of Wyman Lake, one of the largest lakes in Westminster. The Association was first organized in 1972 to protest a forty-parcel waterfront condominium development. The effort to stop this poorly planned development was successful. It was also a wake up call for the residents living on the shores of this beautiful 200-acre lake.
In the following years, the Association grew to more than 200 members (it now has about 375 members). A board of directors was created and dues were assessed. The members pay annual dues and also conduct fundraising activities in order to pay for lake maintenance.
In 1984 the Association came together again to obtain financial assistance from the state to improve the lake's water quality and maintain the watershed. Like other lakes in the country, Wyman Lake had been plagued by pollutants from a variety of sources such as acid rain, road salt, fertilizers, sewerage, chemical dumping and silting due to the over-stripping of forests. In addition the lake suffers from a condition in which water vegetation dies, falls and rots on the bottom of the lake, resulting in crowding of the lake bottom and then to make matters worse, a new crop feeds on the resulting nutrients.
The Wyman Lake Association raised the funds to hire the Anderson Nichols Company to conduct a feasibility study and make recommendations for improvements to the lake. Under the able leadership of Tom Guilmette for more than ten years, the members then aggressively proceeded to work on every recommendation made to them in the report. They began a campaign to install town sewage system near the lake area. If the town could bring the trunk lines to the area, they hoped to apply for grant money for individuals to tie into the system. They worked with the Board of Health to try to require proper maintenance of sewage systems in Town and inspections prior to the sale of residences or the conversion of seasonal into year-round homes. They sought to have a temporary catch basin on the other side of Route 140 replaced with a permanent one and they worked with Wachusett Mountain Ski Area to prevent silting into the lake. Furthermore they began a comprehensive educational program to discourage residents from bathing in the lake and to eliminate the use of harmful phosphate detergents and lawn fertilizers.
Another important recommendation was to begin a program of in-lake restoration. This included hydro raking the shoreline and harvesting weeds from the bottom of the lake. This would be very costly, and the only way the Wyman Lake Association could do it would be to apply for a state grant through the Clean Lakes Program. Normally man-made ponds and lakes don't qualify for state assistance. Wyman Pond, however, was created by extensively expanding a small body of water called Grassy Pond. Because of Grassy Pond, the state accepted Wyman Lake for the Clean Lakes program funds.
With Clean Lakes program grants the town received more than $100,000 to purchase a weed harvester, a dump truck, a trailer and conveyor belt. The Wyman Lake Association members contributed more than $25,000 of matching funds for the grant. Even then each homeowner paid $40 an hour for the harvester to work on their shoreline, while the state grant paid the additional $90 an hour. The weed harvester worked like a floating lawn mower, cruising the lake all summer to control growth of milfoil which began to appear in area lakes in the early 1960s. Milfoil is not indigenous to the lake and residents believe the weed migrated to the area from boats, ducks or other aquatic birds.
In addition, since the harvester cannot operate in the shallow water close to the shore, most residents also participated in the Aquatic Control's hydro-rake program. Each resident pays $120 an hour for this private company to operate the rake on their beachfronts. The rake pulls up weeds and dead leaves and muck. It takes one to three hours to clean the average beach front with the rake.
If you were to drive on the roads winding down to Wyman Lake you would find a variety of home styles - summer camps and cottages, log cabins, chalets and modest ranches. Many have been handed down for generations such as the camps of the Finnish immigrants who purchased lots around Wyman Lake in the early 20th century in order to carry on their old country tradition of having a sauna on the shore of a lake. Many of these families had primary homes elsewhere in Massachusetts and had a camp on Wyman's for the summers. Other homes are new, having been built in the past twenty years. Today, most of the dwellings have become year-round homes.
The Wyman Lake Association members have worked together to protect the lake and its water quality. It is a constant struggle to protect their property values and their lifestyle, which for many is like being on vacation year-round. But it is clear that the work they have done has had far reaching benefits to all the residents of Westminster. The Lake has a public boat access and the Association is active in ensuring that boating safety guidelines are followed so that swimmers and people lying on rafts in the summer can also be safe. The neighborhood policies that the Wyman Lake Association develops in effect ensure public safety for all who enjoy the Lake. And, the beauty of the Lake is a plus not only for residents, but also for all who pass by.
Interesting Facts
Thank You
Our thanks to the:
Westminster Historical Society
110 Main Street
Westminster, MA
ph 978-874-5569
for providing the contents of this page.