As another fishing and boating season descends upon Maine, the ongoing debate over Branch Lake in northwest Ellsworth continues with neither side willing to budge.

On one side is the state, which owns the lake and wants unfettered public access to a body of water attractive to boaters and fishing enthusiasts alike.

On the other side is the city of Ellsworth, which relies on the lake for its drinking water supply and seeks to regulate public access in an effort to preserve water quality.

For years, middle ground has been hard to find. Although there is a small, city-owned launch on the southern tip of the lake, the state sees it as inadequate.

A potential compromise came recently in the form of a new public boat launch proposal, but after more than a year of discussion about where the facility would go and who would run it, the sides are no closer to an agreement.

“The best situation would be for the state to give us complete control over a [public] boat launch, and then find the best location, if there is such a place,” Michele Gagnon, Ellsworth’s city planner, said this week.

“The city can’t have complete control,” countered George Powell, director of boating facilities for the state Department of Conservation. “We proposed a compromise. We said we would build a boat launch, but then [the city] wanted it for residents of the lake only.

At this point, we’re still waiting for the city to respond to our proposal.”

The state’s public boat launch proposal was offered more than a year ago, but still has not been acted on by the city.

Meanwhile, however, the Ellsworth City Council, after several months of discussion, passed a water supply protection ordinance for Branch Lake last summer.

The new law, among other things, requires boaters to pay user fees in the form of inspections and restricts certain water activities. Because it was passed halfway through last year’s boating season in August, the Ellsworth City Council decided to waive the fees until April 1 this year.

“As far as I’m concerned the fees are still on,” Gagnon said.

The new fees would require boaters to pay $2 per day or $20 for the season to use the lake. Those who own multiple boats would have to pay $30.

The fees are not intended to make money or to deter boaters, Gagnon said, but to regulate inspections to keep boats from introducing invasive plants such as milfoil into the lake.

“I’m not happy about the fees, but what’s the alternative,” said Carl Winslow, president of the Branch Pond Association, a group of about 150 property owners.

The ordinance also puts a moratorium on building any new boat ramps, which means without city approval, the state’s hands are tied.

Powell added that the state didn’t have much input in the ordinance.

“They did let us know, but it was kind of at the last minute and we didn’t get an opportunity to voice an opinion,” he said.

Winslow, who lives on Branchview Drive and owns a 19-foot boat, said he’s not a “tree hugger,” but feels the Branch Lake issue is worth the fight.

“We don’t want to privatize the lake,” he said. “Recreational use is not going to cease, we just want people to put their boats in where they can be regulated.”

The existing public boat launch for Branch Lake is on Mill Pond, at the lake’s southern tip, but the state claims it’s too small and boaters can only get an inspection when an attendant is present.

In addition, if the water there is too low, boats have to deal with the rocky lake floor, but if the level is too high, boats can’t fit under the bridge.

The new boat launch proposed by the DOC in December 2004 was for a site on Branchview Drive, a residential road on the lake’s western shore.

Even though the state has land rights there, Powell said, “We are required to obtain local planning board approval [for a new launch], and we can’t do anything without that permit.

“It’s our understanding that we’re not going to get it,” he added.

Gagnon said the city is not being difficult, only careful about preserving its drinking water.

“We’re not against a boat launch,” she insisted. “We’re against an unmanned, ungated facility. We don’t think that would be in the best interest of the city.”

The Branch Lake debate also has spurred the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife to stop stocking the lake with fish, something the state does for many other bodies of fresh water.

Dennis McNeish, a fisheries biologist at DIF&W, said his department is likely to stop stocking lakes where access is decreasing, which he believes is the case in Ellsworth.

“In the simplest terms, we want to have public access because the fish are paid for by the public, but we don’t want to put them in where public can’t get to,” McNeish said.

“We’re looking for equivalent access, and we don’t believe there is equivalent access,” he added. “Shorefront owners have plenty of access, but the public does not.

Winslow argued that the state still has a choice whether to stock the lake or not.

“The boat launch as it exists meets state requirements for the DIF&W to stock it, they just choose not to,” he said.

While stocking the lake does not have an effect on water quality, Gagnon said the city is “certainly not going to push [the DIF&W] to stock the lake.”

With both sides at odds over access, the next step is unclear.

Powell said that while his office is not actively working on anything related to Branch Lake, “We understand that the city is in the process of putting together a proposal to discuss with us.”

Gagnon confirmed that the city plans to meet with state representatives, but said that even though the debate has been going on for years, “time is running out.”