JET SKI ORDINANCE PASSED IN POLAND

After a lot of hard work, dissemination of information and public hearings this past summer, the October 4^th referendum for a ban on personal watercraft (aka jet skis) on the waters of Tripp Lake and Upper and Middle Range Ponds was passed by Poland voters, 128 to 97.

Sandy Norton, new President of the Range Ponds Association, had approached me last Spring about the jet ski issue. A wide range of environmental and safety factors were discussed before agreeing to poll our Association members. By May 31, we’d received a 60% positive response from members seeking to ban them from our Lake and about a 4% opposing view. We’re confident that this pertinent information convinced people to vote in favor of the ordinance. We’re now among only a handful of Maine lakes who’ve been successful in doing so.

Legislature will have the final say next year after the Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife reviews and submits the ordinance The absolute deadline for doing so, submitting this vote to Fish and Game, was November 1, 1999. If passed by Legislature, it will mean posting information regarding the ban at public places and directing the town’s law enforcement officers to assist the Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in enforcing the ban.

If it doesn’t pass, we shall have to be pro-active in monitoring the actions of jet-skiers on our lake and demanding that owners and operators abide by all existing Maine law. Game wardens will be notified of problems and should respond to our requests.

Let’s hope we can pass this next hurdle. More in the Spring Newsletter. …Babs