The Branch Pond Association's Annual Meeting was held on Saturday, August 7, 1993 at 9:30 AM at Ellsworth City Ball.

Coffee and doughnuts were served for early arrivals.

President Chuck Rohn called the meeting to order and the Secretary's and Treasurer's reports were approved. The balance in the treasury on 8/7/83 was $9802.30

The following people were nominated and elected to the Board of Directors'

Bion Foster from the North end of Branch View Drive

Carl Winslow and Candice Berry from the South end of Branch View Drive.

Richard and Muriel Jones from the Cove

Tim and Beth Smart from Hanson's Landing road.

Joe Flanagan reported on the water quality testing. His report is included.

Gloria DeAngelis reported on this year's loon count. Ten loons and two chicks - another down year for us at Branch Pond.

Paul Wight reported on the ongoing sailing" season, which opened on July 4th and has continued with Weekly races (Sundays) through mid-August.

Judy McGeorge invited the membership to a picnic at the Boulders Camp on August 15th after the Regatta sail down the lake.

Notice was given of a camp road seminar and »walkabout on August 8th and the need for a COLA representative was mentioned.

Calvin Anderson reported that the City Council had not, as yet, voted on the report of the Watershed Committee.

Chuck Rohn then reported on a year of frustration in attempting to resolve the road situation with the City Council. His calls and letters requesting a meeting with one or more of the council have gone unanswered. There was much discussion and the board will continue its efforts, with copies of the long correspondence released to the Ellsworth American.

There was discussion of a change of annual meeting time to an early evening schedule beginning next year. This appeared to meet the approval of those at the meeting.

The board has been busy!

New officers were elected. Working committees were set up as follows:

Water Testing: Joe Flanagan
Regatta: Paul Wight
Newsletter: Dave Hardy
Public Relations: Beth Smart, Judy McGeorge, and Dave Williams
COLA representatives: Judy McGeorge and Dave Williams
Fishing: Randy Poulton
Roads: Sam Fuller and Chuck Rohn

Three meetings were held in late August and September. At two of these meetings the board met with a total of four city councilors, first Gary Fortier and Loren Clarke and then Cookie Patten and Bill Spreng. The focus was the road problem and a discussion of possible solutions.

The board is pressing the council to adopt an ordinance similar to one that was adopted by the town of Glenburn, ME in 1980 and amended in 1984. It establishes a number of roads similar to ours as "Public Easements" and specifies the obligations of the town for the maintenance and upkeep of these roads. There appears to be some willingness on the part of some councilors to seriously consider such an ordinance. The main problem at the moment is an advisory opinion by City Counsel (Wayne Foote) that the public easement would permit the city to work on the roads, but not to supply the needed materials. The opinion does not seem to have any basis in law or court decisions, but has been restated by Mr. Foote after several councilors requested a review of the opinion. The board is working to establish that this advisory opinion is indeed in error and that the council could do exactly what the City of Glenburn did.

It should be noted that if the city accepts the roads as "public easements" it makes it legally possible to work on them, but it does not obligate the city to do anything. It is the second part of the Glenburn ordinance, specifying the work to be accomplished, that establishes the degree of maintenance until another ordinance or amendment is passed.

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This year's sailing activity ended on August 15th with a race down the lake to the host house at The Boulders, Judy McGeorge's family camp. This was the conclusion of a very successful summer that began on July 4th and continued every Sunday until the 10th.

Commodore Paul Wight presented the awards for the year to Glen Curtis for mono-hulls and to George Lewis for multi- hulls.

The association is grateful to Judy McGeorge for her invitation to The Boulders, to Paul Wight for his never-ending efforts, to Gibby Griffin for her financial and social organization and to our several hosts and hostesses.

The sailing group is now totally self-sufficient financially, but is very grateful to the association its initial helping getting underway.

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Randy Poulton has agreed to work as the BPA fishing consultant. If you have questions or information concerning fishing please give him a call at 947-4511.

Randy has talked with ron Brokaw of the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Service in Machias. They netted the lake during the first week in October to determine the quality and quantity of fish population. Results are published later in the Newsletter. This survey is conducted every two years.

Scattered reports received by Ron indicate that fishing has been slow. The best salmon action was in the two weeks after ice-out. Knowledgeable fishermen have been taking togue in the 3 to 3 ½ lb. range.

The news from Wall’s Farm Road has been sent along by Ellsworth Bourque.

The Ikalainen place has been sold.

Merle Kronkhite, Jr. has inherited the camp on the death of his father, Merle, Sr.

Blake and Judy Babcock have had significant remodeling done to their cottage, as have Jim and Durrell Irvin. Bob Wentworth, an Orland contractor, did the work for them.

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Eileen Newcomb reports the following encounter:

My sister, Jean Laub, who has a cabin next to ours, and I were driving back on the Happy Town road at dusk. Just ahead on the road was a huge object and it turned out to be a moose. We were so excited and then so mad that we didn't have a camera ready. To our disappointment, another car came from the opposite direction and scared the moose into the woods. We later found out the moose is known on the Happy Town road as "Bullwinkle".

The preliminary "research" that I did over the past three years on waste disposal alternatives for the BPA suggested that the electric toilet sold under the name of Incinolet was a promising alternative that warranted more investigation. After obtaining the names of all the owners of these toilets in Maine from the manufacturer, I designed and mailed a questionnaire with a stamped return envelope to encourage response to 100 names chosen arbitrarily from the list. I got a very good response - 59, (as I would expect from people in Maine) with invitations which ranged from "call for more info" to "stop over and use my toilet". The following summarizes the results (responses won't always total 59).

Owned toilet for:

                                Less than 1 yr. 1-3 yrs. Over 3 yrs.

Would buy again                     2         13         24

Would not buy again -              7          3       

Among the "would buy" are 7 year around owners. Among the "would not buy" are 2 year around owners. The rest are seasonal users.

Does Incinolet effectively dispose of waste?

                37 Yes     5 No

Is there an objectionable odor connected with its operation?

                No     Yes
Indoor        35     10

Outdoor     32     17

Many associated indoor odor with interrupting the cycle (to use again before completing incineration) or with improper cleaning or failure to replenish the catalyst (granules used to eliminate odors). Many (6) said outdoor odor was slight and/or not objectionable (wax-like). See concluding remarks.

With very few exceptions, people said installation was easy. Although many did it themselves many also required the assistance of an electrician. Most said maintenance could be done by owner or a handyman. Most also agreed that support from the company was good and was a matter of an 800# telephone call. A small percentage (less than 5) had had problems with service. A few reported defective timers, which were replaced free. One admitted to kids turning timer wrong way and breaking it.

Although a few responses said the operating cost was high, most claimed it wasn't. For seasonal use it surely would not be objectionable. Moreover, if the alternative is putting in a septic system, the initial cost of an Incinolet - approx. $1500 is in the area of 20% of a septic system, so operating expenses would not be a significant consideration. Nevertheless, the comments ranged from "very costly" to "estimate of $10 - $12 per month for 3 people" and " $25 per month for family of 4".

Conclusion

The most frequent complaint had to do with the length and noise of the incineration and cooling cycle (1 hour and 45 minutes). That can be a problem, especially at bedtime. Other objections had to do with odor, number or cycles necessary to complete incineration and ease of emptying ash tray. I will point out however that those complaints were not numerous. Also it is noteworthy that after completing this survey, I called the company and asked them what if any changes had recently been made to the unit. I asked this without telling them what objections I had noted in the surveys.

I was told of several improvements that had been made recently (some as recent as early in 1993) and most of these changes addressed the problems that were outlined in the returned questionnaires. For example, the cycle can now be delayed by lowering waste into a "odor proof chamber until the appropriate time (e. g. morning). The odor preventing catalyst has been improved. Venting now need not be done up to rooftop. The vent pipe can now simply be taken through the wall and vented downward unless snow build-up is a potential problem. They claim that as long as the catalyst is replenished, which needs to be done only infrequently, there is no odor. The Incinolet CareFree model only requires 115 volts. An industrial model is available which serves 10 or more people and requires 230 volts.

Regarding noise, the company insists that if the "controller wheel" is kept clean, the noise should approximate that of a small fan. That is not the impression I got from some of the surveys. Incinolet did replace the fan with a quieter version in the recent past.

One other point, several responders mentioned gas toilets and most in a negative light. My family has one at Branch Pond and we are not satisfied with it. The odor, among other things, are features we find objectionable. We have had it for several years. In our location, at the bottom of a hill, efficient venting is difficult.

It is with sadness that we report the death, on Nov 7^th, of Bill Allen at his camp on the Phillips’ Beach Road.

By Randy Poulton

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is constantly monitoring the Branch Lake Fishery. As part of that process, fish traps are employed to sample the fish population. During October, my wife and I accompanied Rick Jordan and Greg Burr while they checked one such fish trap. Rick and Greg proved to be very knowledgeable and seemed genuinely happy to have us along. Here is some of what we learned:

The trap contained nine (9) healthy salmon, one white perch and a number of hornpout and suckers. There was also evidence that an eel had been in the trap but managed to break out.

Among the salmon, six (6) were male and three (3) were female. The largest salmon, a male, was 20" long and weighed 2 Ibs 12 ozs. The markings on this fish were such that 1 was convinced it was a brown trout, but after close examination of the fish's dental work, it was found to be a salmon. The next time you catch a fish with red spots, don't jump to the conclusion it’s a brown!

Three (3) of the nine (9) salmon showed evidence of mouth damage consistent with being hooked. Apparently these fish were either released or broke free.

All of the fish appeared to be between 2 1/2 and 3 ½ years old. Scale samples were taken to confirm this estimate.

The department estimated the 1991 togue harvest at just over one hundred (100) fish.

Branch Lake salmon population is bolstered by annual stocking. The number of fish stocked is usually 1,350, although, occasionally that number has been higher. The fish when stocked are 7" - 9" long and grow at an average rate of 5" per year. A 2 1/2 year old fish is approximately 18" long.

The sample of fish studied today indicates that there has been "decent" growth, but the fish are not fat, which suggests that food (smelt) is not as abundant as in years past. This jibes well with my own observations regarding the. nearly non-existent smelt runs last spring. It appears the- department is on top of this situation, and if necessary the lake can be seeded with smelt eggs to reestablish an adequate smelt population.

After processing, all trapped fish were released. Each salmon was marked by clipping the "point" off the top of the tail fin. The department would appreciate hearing from anyone who catches a marked fish. Gall Ron Brokaw at 255-3772.

Brown trout and togue have not been stocked recently, therefore any trout you catch hatched in Branch Lake or its tributaries.

Branch Lake is also part of a special small mouth bass management program. To study the bass population, the department caught one hundred (100) fish by hook and line this spring. The largest, a ten (10) year old, was 16" in length and -weighed just under 2 lbs. Most of the fish caught were about 10'" in length and weighed a little under 1/2 lb.

In an effort to increase the natural reproduction of brown trout in Branch, the fishing regulations have been changed. Effective January 1, 1994 a. "legal" brown trout must be at least 18" in length.

We also talked about regulations, fishing pressure, increased stocking and other measures that might improve the fishery. The department does not believe that at this time the fishing pressure is the "problem". It seems lack of feed is probably the number one concern.