Updated: Wednesday, October 30, 2002 11:45 AM

Unlike our gardens and lawns, concerns about the condition of our lake don't go dormant during the winter. This means that several of the Branch Pond Association committees have been functioning throughout the winter and members have represented us on committees established by city and state agencies.

Anne Hayes has continued to follow up on the Watershed Survey program and the 319 DEP Grant program which have seen many of the 154 problem sites identified in that survey corrected or improved. She has also been involved with Dave Powers, director of the Hancock County Soil & Water Conservation agency and Laura Wilson from the University of Maine in procuring additional buffer plantings for distribution to camp owners this spring.

Brett Johnston has represented the Association in meetings regarding repair vs replacement of the dam and in March the Ellsworth City Council approved funding for the engineering studies. Brett and Calvin Anderson represented the Association on Citizens Advisory committee established by the city in concert with the State of Maine Bureau of Parks and Land in efforts to locate an acceptable site for a new boat launch on the lake.

While you are reading this Newsletter, make a note on your calendar of Lake Week, which is scheduled from July 9-15 and the Association's annual meeting that is set for July 21 at the Ellsworth High School. Notice that the meeting is on a Friday night rather than cut into weekend activities.

The speaker at the annual meeting will be Clyde Walton, President of the Maine Council of Lake Associations (COLA). Clyde has been involved with COLA for many years and is an expert on camp road construction and maintenance.

You will find detailed reports from the above mentioned committees in this newsletter. I would be remiss if I failed to thank all of those that have contributed their time and expertise in these efforts to maintain the quality and ambiance of our lake. A special thanks to Len & Judy Harlow who volunteer to produce and distribute the Newsletter. We hope to see more and more camp owners participating in the BPA and its projects.

Have a great summer at the lake.

The Maine Bureau of Parks and Land is seeking a suitable location on Branch Pond for a boat launching facility to provide public access to the lake. No public access is now available following the closing of Hanson's Landing this past fall. Herb Hartman, Deputy Director of the Bureau, met in March with Ellsworth city officials and representatives from Branchview Drive, Winkumpaugh Road, Hanson's Cove and the East Shore to consider at least two possible sites.

Both sites are Dear the northern end of the lake but particular focus was placed on the State owned property around Sand Beach. One proposal offered was to build a new access road from the Happytown Road directly to Sand Beach and then turn down the shore to a point just below the narrows for the boat launch site with separate parking lots for both spots. Branchview Drive would be blocked so that no through traffic would be possible.

Funding for such a project would be provided entirely by the state, according to Hartman. As of this writing no decision had yet been made on a possible site but a public forum will be scheduled prior to any final determination, it was announced.

Whether or not a launch area will be ready for this summer is still a matter of conjecture.

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The Watershed Oversight Committee met April 20 to review progress and get refocused on the tasks to be completed this summer under the various grant programs. All work on the sites demonstrating best management practices for erosion control under the "319" grant will be completed this summer, with tours to be conducted next year.

The Phillips Way site was completed last fall with quality road material applied and rolled into a smooth surface. The ditches and culverts handled the spring rains very well. Water flow was heavy at times, but clear. The stabilized ditches were not eroded and loss of road material into the ditches was minimal. On Winkumpaugh Road the John Gray Brook is now spanned by a bridge that can only be described as "awesome". Workmen spotted large brown trout traveling up the brook to spawn while the project was underway.

The large arch culverts on Cove Way could not be installed last fall because of the high water in the brook, but will be done in July or August unless a way can be found to lower the water artificially. This project is a very tricky one from an engineering standpoint because it involves a fish way.

This May and June the large culverts will be installed on Sargent Drive by contractor Bill Peisley with oversight from Phil Hopkins. Funds will come from three different grants, plus a large sum in matching funds from the road association treasury. The final demonstration site on Wilson Way will be engineered and completed this summer.

The University of Maine Cooperative Extension Association grants for Branch lake have all been awarded. Several sites have been completed on Cove Way, Wilson Way and Phillips Way. Bor Way and Branchview North, as well as Sargent Drive and several individual property owners, will correct eroding sites with the help of these funds in the coming months. In each case matching funds and volunteer labor are provided by local owners or associations. The Branch Pond Association also awarded funds to some of the same projects.

Jessie MacDougall, from the Cooperative Extension office, needs the following information for all completed projects: Number of volunteer hours spent; number of volunteers who had not been in the Watershed Stewards Program; number of hours spent discussing the project with technical specialists, e.g. Dave Power, Roland Dupuis, John Jemison, Jessie MacDougall; amount of financial match by landowners or road associations; number of people informed about the project through newsletters, meetings or one on one contact.

Jessie can provide technical assistance, including information on materials and construction methods. She would like to be notified when the remaining projects begin. She also has an Americorps volunteer who can organize your volunteers to complete the handwork such as ditch stabilization. Contact Jessie at 207-581-2971 or by e-mail at: jessiem@umext.maine.edu . Reports can be sent to the e-mail address or mailed to 395 College Avenue, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469.

Just a reminder. The best time to observe road and ditch erosion is DURING the rainstorm. Take notes for future road repairs. Similarly, take a walk to the shoreline on a windy day when the water is high, or ice is still moving around, to record shoreline erosion.

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Seed and mulch any exposed soil, to prevent loss by erosion

You may need fip-rap material on slopes over 5%. Ask your county Soil and Water Conservation District to help with your site.

If your road is going to be graded make sure berms are not left on the sides of the road. This build-up prevents runoff from being shed off the road. Also maintain a good shape to the road. The center should be higher and then a smooth surface out to the ditches on the side.

If a culvert is going to be put in place, the soil around the culvert needs to be tamped to secure it. If the soil is not tamped there will not be sufficient contact with the culvert. This means that water will run along the outside of the culvert and erode the soil. - If your road is long, ditch turnout should be in place to direct road runoff into a vegetated buffer. As the runoff enters the buffer it needs to be spread out into a thin sheet, not channeled.

Consider hiring a contractor who has been through the Maine Department of Environmental Protection Non-point Source Training Center's Contractor Certification Program. This program educates contractors on erosion and sedimentation control as well as the use of best management practices. Call the training center at 287-7726. (From RipRap 'n Roll, the newsletter of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Office)

(Editor's Note: Ralph Whedon of Portland and Branch Lake passes on to our readers two of his immediate concerns about lake living).

Light Pollution

Thanks to the director of Camp Jordan for extinguishing his flood light! During the past 15 years some camp owners have found it fashionable to install flood lights spilling fake daylight across the Pond. (Light travels like sound over water). How nice it was when we could see the stars and enjoy a dark Branch Pond at night. The mercury vapor light at Camp Jordan was particularly bright. Thanks for extinguishing it and I hope the others will choose the tranquility of night over the subsidy of CMP (or their successor). We have.

The Milfoil Weed Threat

An article in the 3/12 Portland paper warns us that Sebago is already infested with an insidious weed which could eventually take over the surface of our pond. I'll probably be dead first, but I'm sure most of us would like to avoid this problem. I once tried to row across a Wisconsin lake only to become stuck in the middle of this stuff. The way to avoid it is to prohibit infested boats, motors, propellers, trailers, bait buckets, bilge water and anchors from entering Branch Pond. The campground in the cove has a business to run but should consider either prohibiting boats from away or decontaminating them first. Likewise we need to keep foreign rental boaters out of the lake and the city should avoid allowing Sand Beach or the Dam Park to be used as a landing. This weed appears to be a real problem. For more information about "Invasive Aquatic Plants" contact the DEP at 2873901 or the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program at vlmp@megalink.net  . This is a problem which can be controlled now if we're interested. In the words of a former lake resident who had milfoil invade his former pond, "the first milfoil I see in this lake, I'm selling the house and moving to salt water".

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North Branchview Drive
by Paul Wight

Remember how we used to take camp roads for granted. It served our purpose if we could pass over them to get to enjoy the lake. Then, as time went on, we began to notice how the roads were deteriorating. Rocks were protruding, culverts weren't working and brush was growing into the road. Then we went through that frustrating period of thinking it was only fair, considering the taxes we paid, that the city maintain the roads for us but they found ways of getting around it. Finally, we reached a solution--that of forming Road Associations and sharing the responsibilities.

When we first formed Road Associations our primary concerns were fixing the most obvious problems and while doing this we became aware of the environment impact our camp roads have on the lake. We have learned that dirt erosion from roads and driveways causes algae and weeds to grow and therefore we must maintain the roads in a way to protect the lake.

Our North Branchview Road becomes very rough and dusty during the summer. Grading had become difficult because the road had worn down to where rocks were protruding and there was not enough good gravel to reshape the road properly. To resolve this problem we recently had our road resurfaced with four inches of one inch minus gravel (the size recommended for best packing.) Our next step is to stabilize or harden the road and eliminate the road dust. To accomplish this we are planning to spray the road with liquid calcium chloride this spring.

The use of liquid calcium chloride is a new approach and is being supported in part by a $700 grant from the Water Quality Department at the University of Maine. We are also receiving good cooperation from Ellsworth's Road Maintenance Department. The amount and use of calcium chloride will be monitored to determine its effectiveness.

The prevailing summer winds off our road are from the west and blows the dust toward the lake. At a Camp Road maintenance workshop it was demonstrated that fine grains of sand stay suspended in the water which makes it most harmful. It is difficult to determine the amount of dust that reaches the lake but the trees along the road get covered and much dust gets into our camp.

Out BPA deserves a lot of credit for its efforts. We would not have the outside contracts, support and guidance we need without such an organization.

Cove Way Association
By Glen Curtis

A number of major road projects were completed during the summer and fall of 1999. In midsummer the first quarter mile of Cove Way from Route IA received an application of liquid calcium chloride with the aid of a grant to eliminate dust which creates siltation in the tributaries leading to the lake. Fall roadwork was held September 18 and 19 and involved cutting trees, limbs and brush and chipping the piles, as well as, collecting and stockpiling rocks for fall construction projects. After the two days the work crews were treated to a potluck supper hosted by the Larry Blethens.

Projects completed in November included cleaning out existing ditches, building a new ditch and culvert with rock riprap and a side cut, culvert replacement and the excavation of catch basins and plunge pools at four locations. These projects were completed with the aid of grants from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and the Branch Pond Association. All of these held up extremely well over the winter and spring though there were a couple of spots that required some work after a heavy spring rain when the ditches were still ice covered.

Two projects have been held over until early summer, 2000. They include a gravel overlay on Jones Point Way and the replacement of the large culvert at the Beaver Brook on Way. A new 48 inch culvert has been purchased and delivered to the Beaver Brook site.

The Cove Way Association annual meeting will be held Sunday, July 23.

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Ellsworth city counselors, at a workshop session in March, decided that the leaking Branch Pond dam should be replaced rather than repaired. According to a report by the Bangor engineering firm of Woodard and Curran repairs to the dam would cost an estimated $98,335, while replacement costs were estimated at $307,635. Repairing the dam would extend its life by 20 years while a new dam would have an estimated service life of about 60 years, according to the report.

A repaired dam would cost the city more than $200,000 in repairs and maintenance over 60 years, it was noted in the report, "I think the council felt in the long run it would be more efficient to replace the dam than to repair it and keep doing periodic repairs from year to year", said City Manager Tim King at the March meeting.

Branch Pond provides the city water supply and although the dam is no longer used to keep water levels high enough for power generation, it is used to control the level of Branch Pond to benefit fish spawning, promote recreational use and protect waterfront property.

Last summer, when drought conditions existed in many parts of Maine, the dam was not able to maintain the desired water levels because of the amount of leakage through, around or underneath it, according to Mike Riley, project manager for Woodward and Curran. Riley told counselors that information suggests that between 400,000 and 1.8 million gallons of water per day escape from the dam.

Work on the dam replacement is likely to start during the coming construction season but counselors will await the completion of engineering plans to decide whether or not to complete the project all at once or in stages.

In addition to keeping water in the pond, the city wants to be able to drop water levels quickly in the event of heavy rains or a spring thaw. A 10-inch rise in water level would submerge several leach fields around the pond, which would likely harm the water quality, the engineering report noted.

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The Branch Pond Watershed Survey committee, at its April meeting, made plans to work with cottage owners in identifying five to eight sites most in need of barriers to prevent lake erosion and to supply these sites with the plantings necessary to provide vegetative buffers capable of improving the water quality at those locations.

Plants will be purchased with the help of the $2500 Maine Department of Human Resources grant to the City of Ellsworth along with a sum of money from the DEP "319" grant and stewards will work with landowners in the design of plant buffers on their property. Generally, funds will be used to purchase plant materials, landscape design, mulch and in some cases loam, with the recipient providing the labor in planting and installation.

Any plantings will await the return of the landowners to their summer residences and subsequent agreements between the watershed stewards and the owners.

If details cannot be worked out with the landowners of the sites identified, then the committee will authorize a small plant giveaway to any lake residents who are willing to pick up the plants and shrubs for planting on their property.

Anyone interested in having their property considered for one of the demonstration projects may contact David Power at the Hancock County Soil and Water Conservation District (664-7496) or Anne Hayes (667-4716).

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Laura Wilson, a lifelong summer resident of Branch Lake and who was commissioned by the BPA to undertake a watershed survey in 1998, has volunteered to head up this year's Lake Week activities July 9-15. In the past, Lake Week has included such events as an art contest and boat parade along with other activities.

Laura writes that "Lake Week is a time for us to come together as a community, to get things done, to learn about the lake, but most of all to have fun and celebrate. We are truly fortunate to have Branch Lake as a resource and you have worked hard recently to keep the lake quality high. I do have some ideas for the week, but need help to pull it all off. If you are willing and able to help plan this celebration of our lake, please call me at 989-6820 before June I".

The first race of the 2000 summer season is scheduled on Branch Lake Sunday, July 2, at 2:30 p.m. and will be followed by races each Sunday through August 13, according to Commodore Paul Wight.

Following the race on July 2 there will be a 5:00 p.m. chicken wing barbecue at the camp of Paul and Vi Wight. All sailors and friends are invited.

Paul asks everyone with a sailboat to enter the races and partake of the fun. Having no sailboat is not an excuse, according to Paul, because he says you have plenty of time to get one. His number to call if interested is 667-7874.