CONNEAUT, Ohio (WJW) – A large-scale search of Lake Erie off of Conneaut Township Park has not turned up any sign of the body of an 11-year-old suburban Akron boy, who was swept away by rip currents on Friday.
During Monday night’s Conneaut City Council meeting, members heard a series of proposals about ways to improve safety for visitors to the lake.
It’s important to point out that Township Park is operated by a park board, but members of Conneaut City Council say they are interested in any proposals that will prevent future tragedies and protect all visitors to the lakefront.
“We want the community to come forward and tell us what they would like to see. We want to be their voice and we want to be receptive to their concerns,” Conneaut Council President Terry Moisio said.
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During the council meeting, a statement was read on behalf of the grieving family of the 11-year-old victim, identified by his first name “Hunter.”
The fifth grader from Springfield Township was carried away by the rip tide while he and his mother and a friend were visiting the park on Friday afternoon.
The family statement reads, in part, “words cannot express. He was a son, a brother, a grandson, a nephew, a cousin and just an overall caring and loving kid.”
The National Weather Service had issued a warning on Friday morning about rip currents caused by high winds and wave action. The statement indicates that Hunter’s family was unaware about the NWS warning to stay out of the water.
According to the statement, “we propose to you that more life preservers [are needed], awareness of rip tides, knowledge of rip tides for those unfamiliar with how strong these waters can be. We do not want any more victims to die in these tragic waters. Hunter will be forever loved and missed.”
Among the other visitors to Conneaut Township Park on Friday was a young Ashtabula County Boy Scout, who watched quietly as the tragedy was unfolding.
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John Repasky, 15, is now spearheading a campaign to improve safety at the lakefront park.
“This has happened at least once per year and I believe many of us can agree that it needs to stop,” the teen told council on Monday.
Young Repasky says he and other members of his scout troop are committed to raising funds to purchase warning flags and signs that can be put up at Township Park to alert visitors to dangerous conditions like rip currents.
“In all honesty, I was a little bit disappointed by what I saw, with a lack of warnings and all that was really there were anti-liability signs that say ‘swim at your own risk, no lifeguards,’” he told council.
While the park board ultimately determines policies and procedures at Conneaut Township Park, the president of Conneaut City Council say he endorses Repasky’s proposal in the interest of protecting everyone who visits the lake.
“You know that you may not get a rip current warning on one app and you may on the other, so that’s why I like the idea of having some type of warning system, flag system,” Moisio said.
Repasky received a round of applause after he told council, “if this saves at least one person per year, if there is just one full year without anybody drowning, that would be a huge success for this community.”
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