WATERBORO — A decade ago, in August 2007, 59 property owners on Little Ossipee Pond signed a petition asking the Department of Environmental Protection to look at summer water levels in the lake and adjust them downward.

Petitioners said they were getting water over their docks, in some cases water had entered and caused damage to their homes, and there were related issues like shoreline erosion.

Nothing happened, until earlier this year, when the DEP notified the town and petitioner Claudette “Cleo” Smith  that they intended to follow through with the 10-year-old petition, receive testimony and hold a hearing on the matter, currently set for Aug. 21.

DEP officials won’t say why it took 10 years to move forward on the petition.

Town Administrator Gary Lamb has contended that the petition is no longer valid, since, he said,  one of the petitioners has died, 14 no longer own lakefront property and 14 others have told him they want their names withdrawn from the petition.

“The petition is still pending, and still valid,” said Kathy Davis Howatt, hydropower coordinator for the DEP.

She said that under state law, the department is required to hold a hearing and issue a water order.

“There are no provisions in the law that allow the return of a valid petition,” Howatt said.

Under state law, municipalities may regulate the water flow of impoundments and dams — in this case, Chadbourne dam — through a local ordinance. Lamb said Waterboro has controlled the water levels in Little Ossipee Pond since the 1700s, and the summer level of 6 feet, 6 inches since 1969 has been by policy, but not by ordinance.

That could change on Tuesday, as selectmen have set a 6 p.m. public hearing on a proposed  ordinance to control water levels on the lake. If selectmen approve the ordinance that night, it would be forwarded to DEP Commissioner Paul Mercer the following day.

If the commissioner approves, that could lead to canceling the Aug. 21 DEP hearing and public comment on the petition, but no one can say for sure.

Lamb and others say adjusting the summer water level downwards by 10 inches, as requested in the 2007 petition, would create problems, though Smith, the originator of the petition, said she is willing to compromise with a reduction of six inches, rather than 10.

Smith, in a telephone interview Thursday, contends that lake levels have risen, despite the town’s assertion that water levels have been 6 feet, 6 inches since 1969. She said the water level was three inches from the top of her wall last week, an island in the cove is half the size it was 25 years ago and shoreline erosion has seen trees fall into the lake.

In addition to the summer compromise, Smith is asking that the fall lake level be drawn down by an extra 12 inches every 10 years, so property owners can repair retaining walls. Currently, the lake water level is drawn down to 4 feet, 6 inches from fall to spring, and is drawn down to 3 feet, 6 inches every five years so repairs can be made. Smith said in her case, the fall draw down has not been low enough for repairs to be made.

“If we don’t lower the level so the erosion doesn’t stop, we’ll lose all our islands,” said Smith. “The islands are proof of what the shore is doing.”

In testimony prepared for the DEP, Lamb said waterfront property owners in shallow areas can barely get their boats to docks now,  under power. He said if the lake is lowered, they’ll have to put their boats on moorings, which would introduce a new navigational hazard to neighbors.

In his prepared testimony, Dam Controller Dan Holden said the draw down would mean some property owners would lose their well water after Labor Day.

Waterboro Public Works Director David Benton, in his prepared testimony, wrote that the boat ramp in its present configuration would be unusable, and would have to be revamped at the town’s expense. He said he expects that property owners who currently run out of well water in the fall would find it would get worse if the lake were to be drawn down 10 inches in the summer.

In his testimony, Selectmen’s Board Chairman Dennis Abbott said he spent his childhood at the lake in the 1950s and that the lake level is the same now as it was then. 

He said Holden has maintained the levels spelled out in policy but that weather events like the Patriot’s Day storm in 2007 impacted the ability to control the water level during that event.

Smith said she’d like a solution  that is palatable for everyone.

“I love our lake, I want it to stay pristine,” she said. “I don’t to hurt anyone else. I’d like a compromise that is good for everybody.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.