A Carbon County Commissioner is hoping to make a motion come January to make changes to the admission policy at Mauch Chunk Lake.

Commissioner Chris Lukasevich said he intends to make a motion at the Jan. 12 commissioners meeting regarding limiting access to the beach area of Mauch Chunk Lake Park on weekends to county residents, season pass holders, non-county residents in Coaldale who have children in the Panther Valley School District, campers and pavilion renters.

He outlined that in 2022, there were a total of 477 season passes purchased and of that amount, 364 were county residents.

Lukasevich said a financial analysis still needs to be completed on this proposed change because it would decrease revenue by about $66,000. However, he feels preserving the beach for county residents is a good trade-off.

The commissioners said there are other factors that have to be investigated, including that they don’t own the water in the lake, but only the beach, so they don’t know if the state would go along with it.

Carbon County limited access to the beach over Labor Day weekend as a test to see how this would be for county residents.

If this action would be approved, Mauch Chunk Lake Park will still be available for boating, watercraft rentals, fishing, hiking, biking, camping and pavilion rentals, as well as for general recreational activities around the 3,500-acre park on weekends. The beach would also be available to out-of-county residents Monday through Friday for day passes.