Page 1
Membership
Member Appreciation
Annual Meeting

Page 2
Board of Directors
Winners
Markers
Inspections
Loon News

Page 3
Lake Enhancement

Page 4
President's Corner

A warm welcome to the following newly joined members:

It’s great to see so many new members joining us. Thanks for your support!

Please keep in mind that if dues are not received by 11/01, members can be dropped from our mailing list and removed from the Winter Inspection Lists. Please contact Helen Valliere to discuss any membership related information.

Member Appreciation
The MLRA Board would like to thank the following members for their generous donations to the Association:

Donald Gair, M.D., of 13th St

I’m also grateful to those people who talked to me during the Annual Meeting about doing some volunteer work — but misplaced my notes!  Please contact me again if you can. Thanks very much, Paula Rose

Please note that one of your two Annual Membership Stickers must be VISIBLE from the STREET SIDE of your camp. If it is not, your camp could be overlooked during inspection.

The other sticker should be placed on the Lake side of your camp. Both should be easily seen from either direction. If you have any questions regarding the camp inspections, please contact Larry Valliere.

Newsletter
Have some news you would like to share with Lake friends and neighbors? Please contact Paula Rose, or please write to:

MLRA Newsletter Editor, Paula Rose 
c/o Mousam Lake Regional Association, 
Box 333, Springvale, ME 04083

Annual Meeting

The MLRA Annual Meeting was held at the Acton Fairgrounds on 7/26/03. Guest speakers included State Senator Richard Nass, Acton Selectman Tom Gore, Tom Kashin of Three Rivers Land Trust, Duane Synder of the Youth Conservation Corps, and District Game Warden Cooper.

Following the usual reports by the Board, Tom Kashin was introduced to discuss the activities of the Three Rivers Land Trust. People may donate or deed land to the Trust as a way of preserving open space and keeping land undeveloped, which is also one way of maintaining water quality. During the past year, the Ridley family donated over 500 acres to this conservation organization. The Trust works with lake associations and also with the towns on relevant ordinances as well.

Acton Selectman Tom Gore reported that Acton recently passed a road ordinance permitting camp roads to be accepted as town roads under less restrictive standards than they had historically. This action was necessary due to a Supreme Court ruling that made it illegal for a town to maintain private roads, which Acton has been doing to date. 

To continue camp road maintenance, the town is now putting provisions in place for services in the future. Starting in 2006, Acton will no longer provide maintenance to private roads unless ownership has been transferred to the town. This can be done in several ways. Property owners on private roads typically have deeds that show their properties meet in the middle of the road. These owners can form a road association and convey the “road” portion of their properties to the town, thus allowing for acceptance and maintenance. If the road lies within a subdivision, the property owners may contact the developer and work out a deal for conveyance of road ownership to the town in order to achieve services.
 
Duane Snyder, of the Youth Conservation Corps, gave an update on the season’s scheduled erosion control projects. He also introduced Michelle Ham and Nicole Cobb, who performed courtesy inspection duties at the public boat ramp this summer, Rebecca Martin, the new YCC crew chief, and Deborah Kendall, the Mousam Lake liaison hired via a recently awarded grant. Mr. Snyder concluded by thanking Acton and Shapleigh for their ongoing support, along with the MLRA. 

Sen. Richard Nass reminded the audience that the state used chemicals for the first time as a means of controlling an overgrowth of hydrilla in Pickerel Pond. Every available option is being explored to resolve the contamination of lakes and ponds by invasive plants.

Annual election of officers was held. Two new Board members, Glenn Baxter (of Melrose, MA) and Paul Pelletier (Acton Trading Post owner), were voted in, and several current officers were elected to new terms.