Due to the work of your treasurer, Bob Totman, the BPA is now officially a Non-Profit organization and is tax exempt. YOUR ANNUAL DUES AND OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE BPA ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

We now have an official BPA operating budget in place, and I will be writing more about that in the Spring 2003 Newsletter. Bob Totman, BPA Treasurer and Glen Curtis, Chairman of the BPA Finance Committee were instrumental in putting this together. It was approved by the Board during our final September Board meeting.

We have a new BPA Secretary, Lindy Delbridge, replacing Glen Curtis. Glen will continue as Chairman of the Finance Committee, Webmaster for the BPA Website and as an ex-officio advisor to the Board. Glen is too valuable a resource to have "fade into the sunset!"

The dues cycle for the Association is on a calendar year basis. The dues for year 2002 are still $15.00 per family & 10.00 per individual. The dues for year 2003 will be 20.00 per property owner. This was approved at the annual meeting held in August. The Board has agreed that the BPA should start a "Reserve" fund to better prepare ourselves for any known (Invasive Aquatic Plants) and the unknown threats. Collecting dues is time consuming, but we will continue to send special mailings to achieve 100% membership. Please see the dues notice accompanying this brief News update. Also, please send me your e-mail or any change in your e-mail address. E-mail saves a great deal of time and expense. I’m at President@branchpond.org .

The shoreline monitoring and educational activity of the BPA’s Invasive Aquatic Plant Committee continued throughout the summer of 2002. Watch for a detailed article on this in the Spring Newsletter. The Committee obtained new DEP Invasive Plant signs for each road association & those will be distributed next Spring.

In another effort to educate people and reach out to the community, the BPA Executive Board opened the annual Branch Pond Association meeting to the public. Laura Wilson, who is with the University of Maine Extension – Water Quality Department, gave a slide presentation on just how nasty these invasives can be.

During the summer of 2002, the perimeter monitoring program was more organized thanks to Don Hayes, Anne Hayes and Susan Terrell and the support of with several additional volunteers from all over the lake. The great news is this effort verified that NO non-native invasive aquatic plants were found on Branch Lake. Again, watch for an article on this topic in the Spring Newsletter.

The Invasive Committee and the BPA Executive Board agree that more work is needed to convince the City to play a more substantive role in prevention. Such will be addressed in the City’s new Comprehensive Planning process, and we have residents of Branch Lake on that committee (Anne Hayes, Beth Smart and Bret Johnston).

Hosting a Regional Lake Association meeting in 2002 was one of the Branch Pond Association’s goals. The BPA Executive Board supports the importance of educational partnerships and community outreach programs. Susan Terrell, Chairperson of the BPA’s Invasive Aquatic Plant Committee, hosted the meeting in September 2002 at the Ellsworth Public Library. Minutes from this meeting can viewed at our Website - www.branchpond.org. You’ll also see an article on this in the Spring 2003 News letter.

The Winkumpaugh Road issue is progressing. The City Road Committee has voted to recommend to the City Council that Winkumpaugh Road be ditched and paved in accordance with City standards. We expect the matter to be on the Council Agenda at the December meeting (1^st Monday of the Month). If you live nearby, you may wish to attend the meeting to voice support of the resolution passed at the annual meeting to pave and ditch Winkumpaugh Road.