Dennis selectmen to create committee to address town beach conditions.

SOUTH DENNIS About 60 people crowded into the meeting room at Dennis Town Hall on Tuesday night to voice concerns about the condition of town beaches after a Fourth of July incident brought national media attention to Mayflower Beach.

In response, the Board of Selectmen decided to create a committee made up of residents, police and members of the Beach Department to discuss solutions to these problems. The selectmen will provide more information about this committee at their next meeting.

Dennis police arrested five teenagers on the holiday after four allegedly were seen having sex in the water and a fifth repeatedly ignored police orders to leave the area. An officer suspected they had been drinking alcohol. The incident attracted a crowd, and a video posted on Twitter of the teens being arrested while onlookers chanted USA! went viral.

Angry residents at the meeting said they believed Dennis beaches have become increasingly more rowdy, and the July 4 episode was the tipping point.

This is not a new problem, William Savicki, of Dennis, said. What youre seeing happen on July Fourth is the culmination of a problem which has escalated for the past 12 years.

Residents said they were horrified by what happened, and worried that Dennis beaches would develop a bad reputation.

An image has been created for the bayside beaches, said Wendy Thurmond, who started an online petition to encourage local authorities to crack down on illegal activity at town beaches. Im so embarrassed as a property owner. We made international news.

Four of the teenagers 19-year-olds Julianna Murphy, of Penfield, New York; Stephen Cerrone, of Quechee, Vermont; Lukas Kaminski, of Hopkinton, and 18-year-old Molly Hines of Penfield, New York were each arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct, and appeared in Orleans District Court last week. Judge Robert Welsh III agreed to postpone their arraignments for at least six months while they participate in a program for youthful offenders.A 17-year-old was ordered to appear in juvenile court this week, but the criminal records of juveniles are not publicly available.

Police ramped up their presence on Dennis beaches after the incident, and last weekend, monitors checked every cooler and bag that went onto a beach for alcohol, which is prohibited on town beaches.

After the incident we had all hands on deck, Beach and Recreation Director Dustin Pineau said. Everybody was working for the entire weekend.

Underage drinking, drug use, traffic congestion, overcrowding and beachgoers getting dropped off at the beach rather than paying for parking are major issues at Dennis beaches, according to residents who spoke Tuesday night. Some residents said the presence of drunken people and drug dealers on and near town beaches caused their children to be afraid of going to the beach.

Paul McCormick, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said Wednesday that the increasing popularity of beaches such as Mayflower was a double-edged sword for Dennis. Although the influx of tourists is good for the local economy, the large crowds can lead to incidents such as the one on July 4, he said.

Its part of whats been going on in society, he said. It has a lot to do with people liking to see more outlandish behavior, and it just is part of a norm today that didnt exist maybe in the past. And of course its all captured on a phone.

But town officials are determined to do what they can to prevent another scene such as this one, which has caused much distress among residents, he said.

Its unfortunate that one really bad incident makes people feel that way, but I believe the beaches are still wholesome and popular places to go, he said.

Follow Madeleine List on Twitter: @madeleine_list.

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Mayflower Beach arrests tipping point for angry residents - Cape Cod Times (subscription)