POLAND PRESERVES ACCOUNT

Selectmen agreed at a meeting on March 4, that the $10,000 lake protection account be maintained.  It was ratified at the Town meeting on April 26^th.

 ·         John Crouch, President of Range Ponds who also represented their Association, asked the board to not allow the grant to lapse into the general fund.  He also requested that it remain a permanent funding source for environmental emergencies if the need arises.  The funding was set aside at the 2002 annual town meeting for one year but has not as yet been needed.

 The account is to cover environmental emergencies for all of  Poland’s lakes and ponds.  The biggest concern is the potential for milfoil and other invasive plants to infest local waters.  Plants get into the lakes through boating activity.  If one of 100 boats has an invasive plant on its bottom, it can infest the lake. It’s then necessary to hire divers who must pull invasive plants and their roots out. Variable Milfoil has been found in Middle Range Pond and divers were employed.  Another more serious infestation could be the Hydrilla plant ( see accompanying article). It’s already been found in Pickerel Pond in Limerick and in a pond in Ma.

·         It was also voted upon to give Thompson Lake $2500 towards its Youth Conservation Corps which has been doing buffering and other low-cost erosion controls around the lake to prevent NPS.  Four other towns bordering Thompson have also contributed towards this ongoing project.  Tripp Lake will benefit from this help as well.  Jeff Hackett, leader of Thompson’s YCC, will work one day with his helpers this summer at Tripp.  Next year, two YCC groups  will be formed;  they will share the workload with Tripp Lake needs.  It is hoped that Tripp will someday benefit from such a grant by forming  its own YCC to aid in the implementation of its Long-range Lake/Watershed Plan.

·         Thompson has also invited Tripp Lake members to visit Agassiz Village on May 20 for its “Lake Day.”  It’s an environmental, educational affair to which members of Poland’s sixth grade will be invited next year. 

  Tripp Lake Improvement Association is seeking to ally itself with neighboring lakes in an effort to promote Best Management Practices and to educate the public of the importance of clean, healthy lakes.