WATERFORD – All parties agree: Something needs to be done to stop severe erosion problems on Hawk Mountain Access Road.

At a Tuesday meeting, Jeff Stern of the Oxford County Soil & Water Conservation District outlined a soil erosion plan for selectmen and residents. The plan would require voter approval at next year’s town meeting.

Hawk Mountain overlooks Bear Pond in South Waterford and is accessible via Mill Hill Road to the paved Hawk Mountain Road, to the dirt Hawk Mountain Access Road.

As proposed, the town would contribute up to $3,300 in labor and equipment, or cash, to create turnouts along the steep dirt road to channel runoff into the ditch and woods, Stern said Wednesday. The slope is steepest, around 12 percent, at the lower part of the road, he said.

The district would supply $3,200 in a grant to put up a gate at the bottom of the road to restrict public access to the summit during mud season. The gate would likely be a swinging metal gate supported by two heavy duty steel posts, and could be opened by town emergency crews if necessary.

On the back road, which is farther up Hawk Mountain Road from the Access Road, boulders would be spaced at intervals to allow only snowmobile access in winter, Stern said. All-terrain and four-wheelers would not be able to use the back road, he said.

“Basically the plan is to prevent further erosion” along the road to protect the Keoka Lake watershed, said Stern. As it is now, “Lots of water comes straight down the road,” carrying phosphorus-containing sediment with it.

Signs would be placed to help educate mountain visitors about problems created by soil erosion.

Stern said the owner of the mountain, Ron Hatch, is in general agreement with the plan. “He doesn’t mind that there is access. He just wishes people weren’t so destructive to the road.”

The main issue for the town, he said, “is to keep the road passable.” There have been several woods fires in the past on the mountain.

Waterford Road Commissioner Brad Grover said the town owns the top of the mountain, a gift from a group of people who purchased it to prevent development there. Town Clerk Brenda Bigonski estimated the town owns nine to 12 acres on the summit.

Stern said the district is in the second year of working with funds from a $70,000 federal Clean Water Act grant. So far, the district has worked on erosion control projects with the town on Plummer Hill Road, Mill Hill Road, and the boat ramp at Waterford Flat.

With the road association, the district has also worked on erosion control measures on Kimball Road at Keoka Lake.