Branch Lake boat ramp proposal raises concerns

ELLSWORTH – The state once again is considering a proposal that could lead to the construction of a public boat ramp on Branch Lake, and once again local officials are concerned that such a project could affect Ellsworth’s water supply.

The Legislature is considering the transfer of land on the lake’s western shore from the Maine Department of Conservation to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife “for the sole purpose of constructing and maintaining a public boat launch on that parcel,” according to a bill, LD 824, submitted by Rep. Matthew Dunlap, D-Old Town.

Local officials and residents opposed a proposal in 2000 by the Department of Conservation to develop a public boat launch with 30 to 40 parking spaces at the same site, near the narrow mid-section of the lake. At the time, people expressed concern that with the construction of a large, unsupervised and unrestricted facility, the water quality of the lake, used as Ellsworth’s water supply, could be adversely affected.

According to Rep. Bob Crosthwaite, a Republican who represents Ellsworth in the Legislature, a public work session on the bill will be held at 9 a.m. Friday, March 28, in room 206 of the state’s Cross Office Building in Augusta.

Ellsworth City Manager Tim King said Wednesday that the Department of Conservation shelved its 2000 proposal to allow the city to finish updating its comprehensive plan – a process that is not yet complete. He said the city still has the same concerns about the new proposal.

“A reasonable number of boats would not pose a risk to the city’s water supply,” King said. If a facility were to be constructed, he said, the city would prefer that it provide parking for only 20 or so vehicles, that it be supervised by an attendant who could check boats for invasive plant species before they are put in the water, and that access to the site be restricted at night by a locked gate.

Local officials are worried that, because of a lack of state funds, supervision of the boat launch may not be in the state’s plans, King said.

City representatives have met with DIF&W officials to relay their concerns, according to the city manager.

“They said they would do whatever they could to accommodate the city’s needs,” he said.

Neither Dunlap nor Herb Hartman, deputy director of the Department of Conservation’s Bureau of Parks and Lands, returned messages Wednesday.

Crosthwaite said that DIF&W has stocked Branch Lake with fish before, but has suspended the practice the past few years because of the lack of a public boat ramp facility on the lake. If the bill passes into law, DIF&W would resume the stocking program, he said.

“They want to pick that up again,” Crosthwaite said.

Crosthwaite said he is not opposed to the construction of a public facility at Branch Lake, but said that access to the lake should be controlled so the water supply is protected.

“I think what we need to do is all come to the table” and discuss the issue, he said of the various parties involved.