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Lake Arrowhead Group Seeks Town Funds to Fight Milfoil

February 26, 2008 - WATERBORO -- The Lake Arrowhead Conservation Council is seeking $7,500 each from Limerick and Waterboro to help purchase equipment for the group's ongoing fight against milfoil infestation.

Representatives from the group made a presentation to the Limerick Board of Selectmen and the town's budget committee, and an article asking for funding will be placed on the warrant for the March town meeting. The conservation group sent a letter to Waterboro selectmen asking that the same article be voted on at the town's annual meeting in June.

Mike Fitzpatrick, president of the Conservation Council, said the infestation of milfoil, an invasive plant species, harms the lake and lowers waterfront property values. Last year, the town of Limerick gave lakefront property owners on Arrowhead a decrease of at least 10 percent and as high as 20 percent in their assessed value due to the plant's presence. When property values decrease, he said, the entire town feels the pinch.

"When the property values of the lakefront properties in town go down, that has to be made up somewhere else," Fitzpatrick said. "This is a problem that unfortunately impacts the tax base in both towns. It's easy to see the towns lose $800,000 to $1 million in tax revenue over a 10 year period."

Towns like Raymond, Casco and Windham that encircle Little Sebago Lake pitch in to help the milfoil removal effort there, Fitzpatrick said. "They realize a lot is at stake," he said.

The money being requested from the two towns would help operate a pontoon boat donated by a community member that will be converted into a suction harvester. The machine allows divers to comb the bottom of a lake and suck up the milfoil efficiently. The $15,000 requested would cover the cost of insurance, divers and general operation, Fitzpatrick said. The boat could be used on a daily basis, he said, but the amount of available funds would dictate its schedule.

Future fund requests would depend on the success of fundraising efforts. The Conservation Council is now workng to show its potential funders - including the towns and some non-profit groups that may be approached in the future - that they will make good use of the money. The organization, a former Lake Arrowhead Community subcommittee, is now working toward 501 (c)3 status as a non-profit group.

That status will allow the organization to seek grants to better promote the group, and are in the midst of a membership drive that has more than tripled their numbers. After starting the drive in December with 20-25 active members, the council now boasts more than 70 paying members.

"You want to show that the local people that are most impacted by the problem care about it," said Fitzpatrick. "We're experiencing the grassroots start-up where neighbor talks to neighbor and gets them to join. We're hoping it really catches on."

As the statewide fight against milfoil gains ground, the council wants to position itself to grab any funds that may become available, Fitzpatrick said. A law passed last year combines the milfoil sticker with the boat registration sticker. The state Dept. of Environmental Protection gets a cut of the proceeds from the sticker sales, and Fitzpatrick has been told the agency will put their portion aside for milfoil eradication.

Currently, the group coordinates hand harvesting of milfoil, conducts daily boat inspections at the lake during the summer and uses barriers on the lake floor to impede milfoil growth.

"All these help us," Fitzpatrick said. "We are doing what we should be doing at the state level."

Meanwhile, he said, the group will continue to lobby state and federal officials to address milfoil infestation.

"We can't fight this by ourselves," he said.

SOURCE: REPORTER

DATE: 02-07-2008


Lakes: Lake Arrowhead
Regions: Sebago


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