GUILFORD – Guilford residents may have to find another place to swim this summer as the town board attempts to negotiate a new agreement for the swimming area on Guilford Lake.

Since 1979, the town has had a lease with landowners Samuel Strieff and Helen Stromberger for approximately one and a half acres of beachfront property which are open to the public during the summer.

Strieff terminated that lease at the beginning of January following a sharp increase in the assessed property value of the 79 acres his family owns on Guilford Lake. The re-assessed property values were released July 1, 2011.

“There was a clause in the agreement that either party may move to terminate,” said Supervisor George Seneck, R-Guilford. “We were contacted by their lawyer, at which point we replied with a letter asking them to consider negotiations.”

According to Seneck, the assessed value increased from approximately $50,000 to approximately $378,000 at the end of December. Town assessor Penny Haddad was unavailable to comment on the exact numbers.